Landstingens sjukvård som en del i den svenska modellen : Exemplet Värmlands landsting 1945-1955

After World War II a rapid expansion of the Swedish health care took place. The expansion was realised chiefly as a development of the hospitals and was both produced and financed mainly within the public sector. The financing consisted to a high degree of government grants from the state to the county councils. During the period for this examination (1945-1955) the public responsibility for the health care was expanded. This was expressed in the publicly financed system for health insurance and the cut down in the charges that the patients had to pay for the hospital care. These changes led to some discussions on the national level but reforms could on the whole, with exception for the suggested reform of the open health care, be implemented. This case-study performed on the county council in Värmland shows that the degree of consensus was enhanced on the regional level. The county council had by tradition a culture of collusion assembling to the culture in the primary municipalities, and county council was also dominated by the strong förvaltningsutskottet (the leading executive committee). This committee functioned as a coalition government and had earned a high legitimacy which enabled the committee to implement very comprehensive reforms in the health care of Värmland