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

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.

The Road to Universal Health Coverage
The Road to Universal Health Coverage

Author: Jeffrey L. Sturchio

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2019-01-15

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 142142956X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

How can countries chart their own course toward universal health coverage? Like many ambitious global goals, universal health coverage (UHC) remains an aspiration for many countries. The World Health Organization estimates that half the world's population lacks access to basic health services. Moreover, this already staggering number masks inequities that exist between and within countries: gaps between rich and poor, men and women, young and old, and among people of different ethnic backgrounds. UHC promises to give all people greater access to higher quality health services without the fear of financial hardship. But the task of turning this vision into reality poses a significant challenge for countries at all stages of economic development. In The Road to Universal Health Coverage, Jeffrey L. Sturchio, Ilona Kickbusch, Louis Galambos, and their contributors explore the ways in which the private sector is already helping countries achieve universal health coverage. Stressing the many positive aspects of UHC developments, the book focuses on the new health economy and the sometimes controversial dimensions of the private sector helping countries achieve UHC. Theoretical chapters are complemented by a series of case studies that explore the myriad ways in which private sector actors are already addressing UHC. What are the conditions required for countries to translate their successful experiences and policy promises into practical results for improved population health? In answering this question, the contributors examine the relationship between health employment and economic growth. They also analyze the critical success factors for private sector engagement in UHC, the role of healthy women in creating and sustaining healthy economies, and the role of the pharmaceutical sector. Looking to the political, economic, and social implications of moving from aspiration to implementation, The Road to Universal Health Coverage points the way to the many opportunities ahead as companies continue to work with governments and civil society partners to help achieve UHC. Jean-Louise Arcand, Héctor Arreola-Ornelas, Nathan J. Blanchet, Christine Bugos, Jim Campbell, John Campbell, Jr., Ibadat Dhillon, Donika Dimovska, Christian Franz, Michael Fürst, Louis Galambos, Belén Garijo, Adeel Ishtiaq, Sowmya Kadandale, Ilona Kickbusch, Felicia Marie Knaul, Jeremy Lauer, Robert Marten, Justin McCarthy, Harald Nusser, K. Srinath Reddy, Yasmine Rouai, Jeffrey L. Sturchio, Cicely Thomas, Tana Wuliji, Snow Yang, Pascal Zurn

Crossing the Global Quality Chasm
Crossing the Global Quality Chasm

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.

Health Insurance Handbook
Health Insurance Handbook

Author: Hong Wang

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2012-01-18

Total Pages: 141

ISBN-13: 082138953X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Many countries that subscribe to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have committed to ensuring access to basic health services for their citizens. Health insurance has been considered and promoted as the major financing mechanism to improve access to health services, as well to provide financial risk protection.

Insuring America's Health
Insuring America's Health

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2004-02-14

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 0309091055

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

According to the Census Bureau, in 2003 more than 43 million Americans lacked health insurance. Being uninsured is associated with a range of adverse health, social, and economic consequences for individuals and their families, for the health care systems in their communities, and for the nation as a whole. This report is the sixth and final report in a series by the Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance, intended to synthesize what is known about these consequences and communicate the extent and urgency of the issue to the public. Insuring America's Health recommends principles related to universality, continuity of coverage, affordability to individuals and society, and quality of care to guide health insurance reform. These principles are based on the evidence reviewed in the committee's previous five reports and on new analyses of past and present federal, state, and local efforts to reduce uninsurance. The report also demonstrates how those principles can be used to assess policy options. The committee does not recommend a specific coverage strategy. Rather, it shows how various approaches could extend coverage and achieve certain of the committee's principles.

Health Insurance Systems
Health Insurance Systems

Author: Thomas Rice

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2021-05-10

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 0128160721

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Health Insurance Systems: An International Comparison offers united and synthesized information currently available only in scattered locations - if at all - to students, researchers, and policymakers. The book provides helpful contexts, so people worldwide can understand various healthcare systems. By using it as a guide to the mechanics of different healthcare systems, readers can examine existing systems as frameworks for developing their own. Case examples of countries adopting insurance characteristics from other countries enhance the critical insights offered in the book. If more information about health insurance alternatives can lead to better decisions, this guide can provide an essential service. Delivers fundamental insights into the different ways that countries organize their health insurance systems Presents ten prominent health insurance systems in one book, facilitating comparisons and contrasts, to help draw policy lessons Countries included are Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States Helps students, researchers, and policymakers searching for innovative designs by providing cases describing what countries have learned from each other

Tracking Universal Health Coverage
Tracking Universal Health Coverage

Author: World Health Organization

Publisher: World Health Organization

Published: 2015-07-21

Total Pages: 98

ISBN-13: 9241564970

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This report is the first of its kind to measure health service coverage and financial protection to assess countries' progress towards universal health coverage. It shows that at least 400 million people do not have access to one or more essential health services and 6% of people in low- and middle-income countries are tipped into or pushed further into extreme poverty because of health spending. Universal health coverage (UHC) means that all people receive the quality essential health services they need without being exposed to financial hardship. A significant number of countries at all levels of development are embracing the goal of UHC as the right thing to do for their citizens. It is a powerful social equalizer and contributes to social cohesion and stability. Every country has the potential to improve the performance of its health system in the main dimensions of UHC: coverage of quality services and financial protection for all. Priorities strategies and implementation plans for UHC will differ from one country to another. Enhanced and expanded monitoring of health under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should seek to build on that experience sharpening our focus on the key health service and financial protection interventions that underpin UHC. Effective UHC tracking is central to achieving the global goals for poverty alleviation and health improvement set by the World Bank Group and WHO. Without it policymakers and decision-takers cannot say exactly where they are or set a course for where they want to go. They cannot know whether they are focussing their efforts in the right areas or whether their efforts are making a difference. Monitoring is thus fundamental to the achievement of UHC objectives. It will also be vital to the realization of the SDGs. This report is a critical step to show how monitoring progress can be done telling us what the state of coverage of interventions and financial protection is and telling us where to focus most.

Power, Politics, and Universal Health Care
Power, Politics, and Universal Health Care

Author: Stuart Altman

Publisher: Prometheus Books

Published: 2011-09-27

Total Pages: 479

ISBN-13: 1616144572

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Essential reading for every American who must navigate the US health care system. Why was the Obama health plan so controversial and difficult to understand? In this readable, entertaining, and substantive book, Stuart Altman—internationally recognized expert in health policy and adviser to five US presidents—and fellow health care specialist David Shactman explain not only the Obama health plan but also many of the intriguing stories in the hundred-year saga leading up to the landmark 2010 legislation. Blending political intrigue, policy substance, and good old-fashioned storytelling, this is the first book to place the Obama health plan within a historical perspective. The authors describe the sometimes haphazard, piece-by-piece construction of the nation’s health care system, from the early efforts of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman to the later additions of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. In each case, they examine the factors that led to success or failure, often by illuminating little-known political maneuvers that brought about immense shifts in policy or thwarted herculean efforts at reform. The authors look at key moments in health care history: the Hill–Burton Act in 1946, in which one determined poverty lawyer secured the rights of the uninsured poor to get hospital care; the "three-layer cake" strategy of powerful House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Wilbur Mills to enact Medicare and Medicaid under Lyndon Johnson in 1965; the odd story of how Medicare catastrophic insurance was passed by Ronald Reagan in 1988 and then repealed because of public anger in 1989; and the fact that the largest and most expensive expansion of Medicare was enacted by George W. Bush in 2003. President Barack Obama is the protagonist in the climactic chapter, learning from the successes and failures chronicled throughout the narrative. The authors relate how, in the midst of a worldwide financial meltdown, Obama overcame seemingly impossible obstacles to accomplish what other presidents had tried and failed to achieve for nearly one hundred years.

Going Universal
Going Universal

Author: Daniel Cotlear

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2015-09-28

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 146480611X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book is about 24 developing countries that have embarked on the journey towards universal health coverage (UHC) following a bottom-up approach, with a special focus on the poor and vulnerable, through a systematic data collection that provides practical insights to policymakers and practitioners. Each of the UHC programs analyzed in this book is seeking to overcome the legacy of inequality by tackling both a “financing gap†? and a “provision gap†?: the financing gap (or lower per capita spending on the poor) by spending additional resources in a pro-poor way; the provision gap (or underperformance of service delivery for the poor) by expanding supply and changing incentives in a variety of ways. The prevailing view seems to indicate that UHC require not just more money, but also a focus on changing the rules of the game for spending health system resources. The book does not attempt to identify best practices, but rather aims to help policy makers understand the options they face, and help develop a new operational research agenda. The main chapters are focused on providing a granular understanding of policy design, while the appendixes offer a systematic review of the literature attempting to evaluate UHC program impact on access to services, on financial protection, and on health outcomes.

Introduction to U.S. Health Policy
Introduction to U.S. Health Policy

Author: Donald A. Barr

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2011-12-01

Total Pages: 659

ISBN-13: 1421402971

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Health care reform has dominated public discourse over the past several years, and the recent passage of the Affordable Care Act, rather than quell the rhetoric, has sparked even more debate. Donald A. Barr reviews the current structure of the American health care system, describing the historical and political contexts in which it developed and the core policy issues that continue to confront us today. This comprehensive analysis introduces the various organizations and institutions that make the U.S. health care system work—or fail to work, as the case may be. A principal message of the book is the seeming paradox of the quality of health care in this country—on the one hand it is the best medical care system in the world, on the other it is one of the worst among developed countries because of how it is organized. Barr introduces readers to broad cultural issues surrounding health care policy, such as access, affordability, and quality. He discusses specific elements of U.S. health care, including insurance, especially Medicare and Medicaid, the shift to for-profit managed care, the pharmaceutical industry, issues of long-term care, the plight of the uninsured, medical errors, and nursing shortages. The latest edition of this widely adopted text updates the description and discussion of key sectors of America’s health care system in light of the Affordable Care Act.