This book is the result of an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Faculties of Medicine, Law, Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Oslo. The first part of this book describes how the Norwegian welfare state has developed into its current form and how its economic foundation and regulation secure both a high productivity level and standard of living for its citizens. A separate chapter is dedicated to various aspects of Norwegian health policy-making and health economics. The majority of the book provides a detailed overview of Norwegian healthcare legislation, with special emphasis on the rights and obligations of patients and healthcare personnel.