The governing bodies of the regions are the regional councils with forty-one members elected for four-year terms. The head of the council is the regional council chairman (regionsrådsformand), who is elected by the council.[71] The areas of responsibility for the regional councils are the national health service, social services and regional development.[71][72] Unlike the counties they replaced, the regions are not allowed to levy taxes and the health service is partly financed by a national health care contribution until 2018 (sundhedsbidrag), partly by funds from both government and municipalities.[14] From 1 January 2019 this contribution will be abolished.
The area and populations of the regions vary widely; for example, the Capital Region, which encompasses the Copenhagen metropolitan area with the exception of the subtracted province East Zeeland but includes the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm, has a population three times larger than that of North Denmark Region, which covers the more sparsely populated area of northern Jutland. Under the county system certain densely populated municipalities, such as Copenhagen Municipality and Frederiksberg, had been given a status equivalent to that of counties, making them first-level administrative divisions. These sui generis municipalities were incorporated into the new regions under the 2007 reforms
