Financing Universal Access To Healthcare: A Comparative Review Of Landmark Legislative Health Reforms In The Oecd

Financing Universal Access To Healthcare: A Comparative Review Of Landmark Legislative Health Reforms In The Oecd PDF

Author: Preker Alexander S

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2018-03-20

Total Pages: 672

ISBN-13: 9813227192

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The recent expansion of health insurance coverage in the USA under the Affordable Health Care Act, and current threats to reverse the benefits of this reform, have once again focused the world's attention on the difficult challenges faced by other countries trying to provide better access to healthcare to their population at an affordable cost. This textbook provides a comparative review of financing universal access to healthcare in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The first two chapters of the book provide a framework for financing universal access to healthcare. The remaining eight chapters present case studies of eight OECD countries that have successfully introduced reforms to finance universal access to healthcare for their population through landmark legislative reforms. A concluding chapter focuses on the lessons learned from the OECD and recommendations from policymakers and others who are planning similar reforms. The book is designed as a learning tool for students and as a user guide for policymakers. Contents: Introduction Principles and Practice The UK Canada Australia New Zealand Denmark Norway Sweden Finland Summary of Lessons Learned Readership: Graduate and research-level students and instructors of healthcare financing, healthcare policymakers, and healthcare professionals and investors. Keywords: Universal;Health Financing;Health Insurance;Health Reform;Financial Protection;Political Process;HealthcareReview: "The International Hospital Federation (IHF) is committed to advancing the UHC agenda throughout the world, giving billions of people better access to critical hospital care and basic health services when needed, no matter their income or geographic location in the world. Since its establishment in 1929, the IHF recognizes the essential role of hospitals and health care organizations in providing health care, supporting health services and offering education to health care providers as a critical partner in during the drive for UHC throughout the world. This volume is a tribute to the renewed effort in achieving 'Health for All'." Eric de Roodenbeke Executive Director International Hospital Federation Geneva 2018 "This year, as we commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Alma-Ata Declaration of 'Health for All' in Almaty, Kazakhstan, 1978 and the 70th Anniversary of the UK National Health Service, 1948, we also celebrate the great achievement over the past decades in bringing access to affordable and quality health care for billions of people across the world since the 1950s. Looking forward, at the recent Universal Health Coverage Forum 2017 in Tokyo Japan, the international development community — including both bi-laterals and multi-laterals — committed to the 'Tokyo Declaration on Universal Health Coverage: All Together to Accelerate Progress towards UHC'. This text book makes a valuable contribution by reviewing the political, policy and implementation challenges that countries face in achieving this agenda. The approach used to analyze the eight case studies presented in the volume is a seminal work in comparative health policy." James Christopher Lovelace International Health and Development Advisor Former Director, Health Nutrition and Population, World Bank Former Assistant Deputy Minister of Health, Government of BC, Canada Former Director General of Health, Government of New Zealand Key Features: The main distinguishing feature of this book is to compare OECD countries that have successful experiences in addressing the policy challenges and p

Financing Universal Access to Healthcare

Financing Universal Access to Healthcare PDF

Author: Preker Alexander S

Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company

Published: 2025-05-31

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789813271548

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This textbook for graduate and postgraduate university students and for healthcare policymakers reviews a set of countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that have introduced universal access to healthcare through an incremental expansion of health insurance coverage over time. This second volume is a companion to Volume 1, A Comparative Review of Landmark Health Reforms in the OECD, which reviews a different set of countries that approach universal access to healthcare via a 'Big Bang' reform process instead.The first two chapters of this volume provide a framework for financing universal access to healthcare through expansion of health insurance, rather than a government-financed National Health Service. The subsequent chapters present case studies of a) the USA which is still struggling; and b) 11 other OECD countries that succeeded in introducing reforms to finance universal access to healthcare for their population in the 20th century, through incremental health insurance reforms.The book's detailed review of the current situation in the USA shows how the road to universal access to healthcare has been a long and tortuous process, spanning more than 100 years of on-and-off reforms. The recent expansion of health insurance coverage in the USA under the Affordable Health Care Act, and current threats to reverse the benefits of this reform, have once again focused the world's attention on just how difficult it is to expand coverage at an affordable cost. Despite being the one of the richest countries in the world in terms of per capita income, and spending more on healthcare than anywhere else in the world, the USA remains among the few OECD countries -- including Turkey and Mexico -- that still has not achieved the elusive goal of providing access to affordable healthcare to its whole population.The subsequent 11 case studies show how reforms leading to universal access to healthcare were not a one-size-fits-all process and did not imply coverage for all people for everything. Rather, universal access to healthcare was a delicate balance between three critical dimensions: who is covered, what services are covered and how much of the cost is covered through some form of prepayment. The OECD experience has been that there are important trade-offs between these three dimensions. No country in the world is rich enough to bear the costs of providing unrestrained access to a limitless range of services for their whole population. Rather, compromises were made that reflect the social contract and political realities of the time of expansion in coverage in the respective countries.The concluding two chapters focus on the lessons learned from the OECD and recommendations for policymakers and others both in the USA and elsewhere who are planning similar reforms.

Crossing the Global Quality Chasm

Crossing the Global Quality Chasm PDF

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2019-01-27

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 0309477891

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In 2015, building on the advances of the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations adopted Sustainable Development Goals that include an explicit commitment to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. However, enormous gaps remain between what is achievable in human health and where global health stands today, and progress has been both incomplete and unevenly distributed. In order to meet this goal, a deliberate and comprehensive effort is needed to improve the quality of health care services globally. Crossing the Global Quality Chasm: Improving Health Care Worldwide focuses on one particular shortfall in health care affecting global populations: defects in the quality of care. This study reviews the available evidence on the quality of care worldwide and makes recommendations to improve health care quality globally while expanding access to preventive and therapeutic services, with a focus in low-resource areas. Crossing the Global Quality Chasm emphasizes the organization and delivery of safe and effective care at the patient/provider interface. This study explores issues of access to services and commodities, effectiveness, safety, efficiency, and equity. Focusing on front line service delivery that can directly impact health outcomes for individuals and populations, this book will be an essential guide for key stakeholders, governments, donors, health systems, and others involved in health care.

Approaches to Universal Health Coverage and Occupational Health and Safety for the Informal Workforce in Developing Countries

Approaches to Universal Health Coverage and Occupational Health and Safety for the Informal Workforce in Developing Countries PDF

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2016-07-06

Total Pages: 141

ISBN-13: 0309374065

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Universal health coverage (UHC) has been recognized by the World Health Organization as a key element in reducing social inequality and a critical component of sustainable development and poverty reduction. In most of the world UHC is sought through a combination of public and private-sector health care systems. In most low- and middle-income countries health systems are evolving to increasingly rely on the private sector because the public sector lacks the infrastructure and staff to meet all health care needs. With growing individual assets available for private-sector expenditure, patients often seek better access to technology, staff, and medicines. However, in low-income countries nearly 50 percent of health care financing is out-of-pocket. With the expected increase in the overall fraction of care provided through the private sector, these expenditures can be financially catastrophic for individuals in the informal workforce. In the global workforce of approximately 3 billion people, only 10 to 15 percent are estimated to have some type of access to occupational health services. The informal workforce is growing worldwide, and the degree to which its occupational health needs are satisfied depends on the capabilities of the general health care system. In July 2014, the Institute of Medicine held a workshop on approaches to universal health coverage and occupational health and safety for informal sector workers in developing countries. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from this workshop. Approaches to Universal Health Coverage and Occupational Health and Safety for the Informal Workforce in Developing Countries identifies best practices and lessons learned for the informal workforce in developing countries in the financing of health care with respect to health care delivery models that are especially suitable to meeting a population's needs for a variety of occupational health issues, including the prevention of or mitigation of hazardous risks and the costs of providing medical and rehabilitation services and other benefits to various types of workers within this population. These experiences and lessons learned may be useful for stakeholders in moving the discussions, policies, and mechanisms forward to increase equitable access to quality health services without financial hardship for the informal workforce.

Serious and Unstable Condition

Serious and Unstable Condition PDF

Author: Henry Aaron

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2010-12-01

Total Pages: 175

ISBN-13: 0815721145

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The United States spends more on health care than any other nation in the world, yet millions of Americans cannot afford basic care for acute illnesses, few are insured against the costs of long-term care, and many frequently used medical procedures have never been fully evaluated. The goals of controlling spiraling health care costs and extending insurance coverage or even maintaining current insurance coverage seem to be in conflict. But progress can be made on both goals if they are tacked together. Henry Aaron evaluates these critical issues and explores how adequate care can be provided without fueling inflation. Because the current arrangements for financing America's health care cannot endure, Aaron contends that a major national debate on the restructuring of the U.S. system of financing health care is inescapable, and major legislation is likely. Serious and Unstable Condition offers a guide that is crucial to understanding the reform debate. It explains the important economic issues of health care as a background for evaluating both the current system and proposals for change. Aaron compares the U.S. system of health care financing with certain foreign systems and reviews major options for reform. He cautions that unless the health insurance system is radically changed, the number of uninsured will continue to increase and costs will continue to escalate. He then offers his own comprehensive plan to address these problems.

What's In, What's Out

What's In, What's Out PDF

Author: Amanda Glassman

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2017-10-10

Total Pages: 542

ISBN-13: 1944691057

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Vaccinate children against deadly pneumococcal disease, or pay for cardiac patients to undergo lifesaving surgery? Cover the costs of dialysis for kidney patients, or channel the money toward preventing the conditions that lead to renal failure in the first place? Policymakers dealing with the realities of limited health care budgets face tough decisions like these regularly. And for many individuals, their personal health care choices are equally stark: paying for medical treatment could push them into poverty. Many low- and middle-income countries now aspire to universal health coverage, where governments ensure that all people have access to the quality health services they need without risk of impoverishment. But for universal health coverage to become reality, the health services offered must be consistent with the funds available—and this implies tough everyday choices for policymakers that could be the difference between life and death for those affected by any given condition or disease. The situation is particularly acute in low- and middle income countries where public spending on health is on the rise but still extremely low, and where demand for expanded services is growing rapidly. What’s In, What’s Out: Designing Benefits for Universal Health Coverage argues that the creation of an explicit health benefits plan—a defined list of services that are and are not available—is an essential element in creating a sustainable system of universal health coverage. With contributions from leading health economists and policy experts, the book considers the many dimensions of governance, institutions, methods, political economy, and ethics that are needed to decide what’s in and what’s out in a way that is fair, evidence-based, and sustainable over time.

Health Financing in the Developing World

Health Financing in the Developing World PDF

Author: Guy Carrin

Publisher: ASP / VUBPRESS / UPA

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 463

ISBN-13: 9054877758

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A collection of peer-reviewed articles and contributions to books, this overview of the finance of health insurance concentrates on developing countries. The material covers various financing strategies and explains how each can--or cannot--help improve the transition toward universal coverage. The model plans shown here are particularly useful for policy-makers and technical advisers who have to decide upon health financing policies--or are engaged in a debate about them--and the sample forms can be adjusted to the particular economic and political context of the developing countries involved. In addition, there are reminders that this process varies: in some countries, universal coverage may take time and require a step-by-step approach. In other developing countries, a swift transition to universal coverage may be quite feasible.

Lanterna Rally - Theme by Grace Themes