In the paper the problems of the efficiency of healthcare systems are considered, the different definitions are presented and comparative analysis is provided. As the research problem the relation between financial mechanisms of healthcare and the quality of healthcare services and satisfaction of patients on the example of the EU countries is defined. In the work the relations between general government expenditure on health per capita, health life years and self-perceived health state have studied and proved that in some countries the policy of financing health systems was quite flexible and changed, while in other countries this policy was stable for a long term period. At the same time, a number of social, economic, political and institutional factors influence the policy of financing health systems, which should also be taken into account and studied in connection with the changing characteristics of financing the health system and its efficiency in the country.