com, Norway's percent of gross domestic product in health care (GDP) is 9.6% as of 2012. The Norwegian health care system is government-funded and heavily regionalized. The system is financed primarily though taxes collected by the country councils and boroughs, but does not cover or provide a dental plan for citizens over 18 years of age. Private healthcare is not popular due to the high standard of the government health system. But some insures offer complementary health insurance for citizens who do not wish to go to a hospital because of the waiting list, or for special treatments such as plastic surgery. Substances abuse, rehabilitation, and dental are the three areas of the private health care that are prominent. Dental care is primarily controlled by private sectors, which means it involves high costs. .
Since most of the funding for Norway's health care system comes from taxes, a person's contribution is based on the individual's ability to pay. The private sources of funding come from copayments and other sources are out of packet payments from white list pharmaceuticals, physiotherapy, dentistry, and other services. The small private sectors mainly focus on dental care and substance treatment. They also provided surgery's that are considered cosmetic. The outcome of this system is very good, but an issue in Norway's system is the "effectiveness of distribution of care". Citizens are generally provided the universal health coverage with all the same insurance, but there is a difference in the quality of treatment in rural and urban populations. Rural populations in Norway are scatted, making traveling to hospitals longer. Also, specialized care is mostly offered in urban areas as well. .
Many Norwegians feel that the access and quality of their health system is very satisfying. Waiting times seemed to be an issue with the system though. People who had taken a survey about the waiting times responded to waiting at least four weeks for an appointment.
