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Two Converging Crises

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Health and Healthcare Policy in Italy since 1861

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Abstract

The early years of the twenty-first century witnessed disjointed changes in health policy: a constitutional devolution of power to the regions and, conversely, de facto fiscal governance that was weighted in favour of the central government’s fiscal objectives. This changed the direction of the health policy debate, which focused on its fiscal dimensions, as it was generally accepted that organizational issues were a regional responsibility. The new and tighter fiscal policy showed remarkable continuity between governments of the centre-right and the centre-left. It reflected the strengthening of the European Union fiscal policy through its Stability and Growth Pact, which had been translated into domestic policy as the Internal Stability Pact. The stagnant political climate was shattered by the two converging crises of the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic.

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  1. Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Francesco Taroni

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Taroni, F. (2021). Two Converging Crises. In: Health and Healthcare Policy in Italy since 1861. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88731-5_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88731-5_11

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