Revista Română de Bioetică, Vol. 11, Nr. 1, Ianuarie - Martie 2013 INEQUALITIES IN ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE. A COMPARISON BETWEEN ROMANIA AND THE EUROPEAN UNION Bogdan Olaru* Abstract Background: Various obstacles in accessing healthcare are unequally distributed between socioeconomic groups within European Union member states, as well as between countries. One of the major aims of European health policies of member states is to reduce the impact of the social determinants of health and the gap between socioeconomic groups. Method: We used the results of the EU-SILC Survey for 2005-2010 to compare the unmet needs for medical examination due to barriers of access (too expensive) in Romania and European Union. Using a simple linear regression model, we calculated the percentage of variation in self- reported unmet medical needs explained by the material deprivation in the EU countries, Croatia, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland (N=31) in 2010. Results: We found that cost-related inequalities in accessing healthcare between different socioeconomic groups are greater in Romania than in the European Union. In Romania, these inequalities become even greater due to a significant gender gap. Material deprivation explains about two-thirds of data variability in 31 countries included in the analysis. Conclusions: In Romania, the socioeconomic status has a greater impact on the access to healthcare than the average impact in the European Union. The gap between Romania and European Union is unequally distributed over the socioeconomic groups with those with low social status carrying the burden resulting from the existing gap. The results of the study offer the image of a structurally inegalitarian society for Romania. Keywords: inequalities in access to healthcare, social determinants of health, health inequity, high costs as access barrier, Romania versus European Union *PhD University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Gr. T. Popa” Iași (Romania), Institute of Economic and Social Research “Gh. Zane” Iași (Romania). Email: bogdan.olaru@phenomenology.ro Mail address: Institute of Economic and Social Research “Gh. Zane”, T. Codrescu 2, RO-700481 Iași 111