Misplaced Pages

#994005

29-560: Until the end of 2014, all of the 21 counties of Sweden had its own County Police Department . In 2015, Sweden merged all local police departments into a single police agency , dividing the country into seven police regions instead. Territorial police forces that have a presence at a regional and county level in England and Wales are: In the United States, the powers, duties, and even existence of county police forces vary widely depending on

58-493: A common legal framework. Some, such as the Netherlands and Switzerland , allow private for-profit insurers to participate. Almost every major country that has a publicly funded healthcare system also has a parallel private system for patients who hold private medical insurance or themselves pay for treatment. In those states, those able to pay have access to treatment and comforts that may not be available to those dependent upon

87-511: A more competitive environment among providers and insurers has proved difficult. A 2009 Harvard study published in the American Journal of Public Health found more than 44,800 excess deaths annually in the United States because of Americans' lacking health insurance, equivalent to one excess death every 12 min. More broadly, the total number of people in the United States, whether insured or uninsured, who die because of lack of medical care

116-478: A number of municipalities ( kommuner ), the existence of which is partly at the discretion of the central government. Since 2004 their number has been 290, thus an average of 13.8 municipalities per county. Until 1968, the City of Stockholm had its own "county code" A , which is still used interchangeably with AB in some contexts, and County of Stockholm had county code B . L was for Kristianstad County and M

145-404: A publicly managed fund. Usually this is under some form of democratic accountability , the right of access to which are set down in rules applying to the whole population contributing to the fund or receiving benefits from it. The fund may be a not-for-profit trust that pays out for healthcare according to common rules established by the members or by some other democratic form. In some countries,

174-715: A separate budget and hypothecated taxes or contributions. The proportion of the cost of care covered also differs: in Canada, all hospital care is paid for by the government, while in Japan, patients must pay 10 to 30% of the cost of a hospital stay. Services provided by public systems vary. For example, the Belgian government pays the bulk of the fees for dental and eye care, while the Australian government covers eye care but not dental care. Publicly funded medicine may be administered and provided by

203-467: Is a role fulfilled by the historical provinces of Sweden ( Swedish : landskap ). This level of administrative unit was first established in the 1634 Instrument of Government on Lord Chancellor Count Axel Oxenstierna 's initiative, and superseded the landskap, in order to introduce a more efficient administration of the realm. At that time, they were what the translation of län into English literally means: fiefdoms . The county borders often follow

232-438: Is the primary means of financing health care and sometimes with compulsory insurance, all eligible people receive the same level of cover regardless of their financial circumstances or risk factors. Most developed countries have partially or fully publicly funded health systems. Most western industrial countries have a system of social insurance based on the principle of social solidarity that covers eligible people from bearing

261-519: The state , and even on the particular county ( parish in Louisiana ) within a state. County police forces as autonomous entities are relatively rare and tend to exist only in metropolitan counties. Many states also have a county sheriff's office , which is usually formed on a county basis and traditionally carries out duties related to the functioning of the courts and legal system, such as service of process , executing legal writs , and protection for

290-736: The 2000s, many major government agencies have reorganised from a county-based subdivisional structure into larger geographical or functional areas. This include the Swedish Tax Agency (1 January 2004), the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (1 January 2005), the Swedish Public Employment Service (1 January 2008), and the Swedish Police Authority (1 January 2015). With county codes, which were official until 1974. Each county region contains

319-408: The county administrative board are to supervise local state administration (that is not otherwise assigned to other government agencies), and to coordinate political goals with the central government. The regional council is the elected regional political assembly that oversees the municipal affairs of the county, primarily in regard to public healthcare , public transport , and culture. Beginning in

SECTION 10

#1732851386995

348-574: The direct burden of most health care expenditure, funded by taxation during their working life. Among countries with significant public funding of healthcare there are many different approaches to the funding and provision of medical services. Systems may be funded from general government revenues (as in Canada , United Kingdom , Brazil and India ) or through a government social security system (as in Australia , France , Belgium , Japan and Germany ) with

377-532: The following proposal has in 2016 emerged: The main difference is that the proposed Bergslagen is divided to other counties, and Stockholm is on its own (plus the small Gotland which has air connections to Stockholm) The counties in Sweden correspond to the third level of division in the European Union 's system of Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics . For the purpose of creating regions corresponding to

406-470: The fund is controlled directly by the government or by an agency of the government for the benefit of the entire population. That distinguishes it from other forms of private medical insurance , the rights of access to which are subject to contractual obligations between an insured person (or their sponsor) and an insurance company , which seeks to make a profit by managing the flow of funds between funders and providers of health care services. When taxation

435-585: The government, as in the Nordic countries , Portugal , Spain , and Italy ; in some systems, though, medicine is publicly funded but most hospital providers are private entities, as in Canada. The organization providing public health insurance is not necessarily a public administration, and its budget may be isolated from the main state budget. Some systems do not provide universal healthcare or restrict coverage to public health facilities. Some countries, such as Germany, have multiple public insurance organizations linked by

464-423: The local courthouse and its judges . Many state constitutions mandate that the position of sheriff be created, which leads many states to also give sheriffs the duties of a county police to avoid having overlapping departments with similar duties, leaving the sheriff as the exclusive law enforcement agency for a county. Some counties that previously had both a county police force and a sheriff's office have merged

493-759: The loss of Finland to Russia in 1809). In 1812, some provinces were moved from Götaland to Svealand . After the Finnish War , Sweden was forced to cede the counties in Finland to Russia following the Treaty of Fredrikshamn in (1809). However, the counties were upheld in Finland until a reform in 1997. They are still in use in Sweden, 370 years later. The counties in Finland established in 1634 were: Turku and Pori County , Nyland and Tavastehus County , Viborg and Nyslott County , Ostrobothnia County and Kexholm County . Over time

522-529: The number of subdivisions in Finland increased to twelve, until a reorganization in 1997 reduced their number to six provinces , while keeping the administrative model intact. The counties in Finland were abolished in 2010. Abolished counties in current-day Sweden proper were: Counties in Swedish-ruled Finland were: Under the aegis of the Swedish government , Ansvarskommittén has been investigating

551-529: The possibilities of merging the current 21 counties into 6 to 9 larger regions. These proposals are from their final report, delivered in 2007: A model for this comes from the merger of some counties into Skåne County and Västra Götaland County in 1997 and 1998, respectively, which is now considered a success. The counties are discussing the proposal. An obstacle is that Stockholm County does not want to merge with any other county, while its neighbours want to merge with Stockholm. After this discussion

580-479: The provinces were grouped in three lands: Götaland , being southern and western Sweden; Svealand being eastern and south-eastern, and Norrland being the entire northern half. The names of the first two refer to ancient tribes, and the third is a geographical reference. They are still commonly used as geographical references. The boundaries have changed over time, with the most significant in 1658 (the cession of provinces from Denmark-Norway to Sweden) and 1812 (due to

609-467: The provincial borders, but the Crown often chose to make slight relocations to suit its purposes. In every county there is a county administrative board ( länsstyrelse ) headed by a governor ( landshövding ), appointed by the government , as well as a separate regional council ( region ). In the county of Gotland however, the county's only municipality has adopted regional responsibilities. The aims of

SECTION 20

#1732851386995

638-420: The quality of health care and health outcomes, allocating an appropriate level of public sector other resources to healthcare but at the same time ensuring that services are provided in a cost-efficient and cost-effective manner (microeconomic efficiency). A range of measures, such as better payment methods, have improved the microeconomic incentives facing providers. However, introducing improved incentives through

667-566: The same personnel but the hospital and the physician receive funding from an insurance company or the patient. These amenity beds do not exist in all publicly funded systems, such as in Spain. The NHS also pays for private hospitals to take on surgical cases under contract. Many countries are seeking the right balance of public and private insurance, public subsidies, and out-of-pocket payments. Many OECD countries have implemented reforms to achieve policy goals of ensuring access to health care, improving

696-405: The second level, counties have been grouped into eight Riksområden , or National Areas : Stockholm , East Middle Sweden , North Middle Sweden , Middle Norrland , Upper Norrland , Småland and the islands , West Sweden and South Sweden . Public healthcare Publicly funded healthcare is a form of health care financing designed to meet the cost of all or most healthcare needs from

725-697: The state of Louisiana , a county is known as a parish . In the state of Alaska , a county is known as a borough . The only borough in Alaska to have their own police department is North Slope Borough Counties of Sweden The counties of Sweden ( Swedish : Sveriges län ) are the first-level administrative subdivisions of Sweden . There are twenty-one counties; however, the number of counties has varied over time, due to territorial changes and to divisions and/or mergers of existing existing counties. They are not regarded as geographical areas by Swedes as they are not connected to dialects or identity, which

754-542: The state system. From the inception of the NHS model (1948), public hospitals in the United Kingdom have included "amenity beds" which would typically be siderooms fitted more comfortably, and private wards in some hospitals where for a fee more amenities are provided. Patients using these beds are in an NHS hospital for surgical treatment, and operations are generally carried out in the same operating theatres as NHS work and by

783-559: The two, leaving the sheriff in command of the unified force, as the sheriff derives his power directly from the constitution; the most prominent example of such a merger is the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department which is actually led by the county sheriff despite its name. County police tend to fall into three broad categories: Note: County detectives , who are maintained in the northeastern states by county attorneys ' offices, fall within this category. In

812-614: Was for Malmöhus County but since they were merged to form Skåne County , M is usually used. O used to stand for Gothenburg and Bohus County but has been used for Västra Götaland County since it was merged with Skaraborg County ( R ) and Älvsborg County ( P ). Sweden's provinces , or landskap , and the "lands" , or landsdelar , lack political importance today but are common denominations culturally and historically. The provinces had their own laws and justice systems and could have large cultural and religious differences. The province of Småland (literally small land ) historically

841-454: Was several provinces with its own laws. Here burial tradition in the era before the Viking Age could differ significantly from province to province. The province of Norrbotten is a relatively recent creation; it was part of Västerbotten which extended all the way to Österbotten in today's Finland before 1809. Finnish and Swedish Lappland was also one province until 1809. Historically,

#994005