Voluntary Health Insurance in Europe
Author: Sagan A
Publisher:
Published: 2016
Total Pages: 163
ISBN-13: 9789240699168
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Voluntary Health Insurance in Europe: Role and Regulation
Author: Sagan A.
Publisher: World Health Organization
Published: 2016-07-20
Total Pages: 136
ISBN-13: 9289050381
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIf public resources were unlimited there would be no gaps in health coverage and no real need for VHI. However most health systems face fiscal constraints and VHI is often seen as a way to address these pressures. This study draws from the experiences of 34 countries to assess VHI s contribution to health spending and to understand its role in Europe and in relation to publicly financed coverage. It looks at who sells VHI who purchases it and why. It also reviews public policy towards VHI at national and EU levels and the related national policy debates. The analysis shows that while the different markets for VHI vary considerably in size operation and regulation the vast majority are small. Where there are substantial markets these tend to be the oldest ones having a tradition of non-profit insurers and to be the most heavily regulated to ensure VHI policies are accessible and affordable. The study also suggests that VHI is normally a better way of meeting population health needs than out-of-pocket payments although there are notable exceptions. VHI can contribute to financial protection especially where it plays a substitutive and complementary role covering co-payments. However it is a complex challenging and highly context-specific policy instrument that may undermine other health system goals including equitable access efficiency transparency and accountability even where markets are well regulated. Policy-makers should therefore exercise real caution before expanding VHI to fill coverage gaps. This volume and its companion set of country profiles were developed jointly by the Observatory s LSE hub and the WHO Regional Office for Europe. The study draws on contributions from national experts from the EU EFTA and other countries in Europe.
Assuring the Quality of Health Care in the European Union
Author: Helena Legido-Quigley
Publisher: World Health Organization
Published: 2008
Total Pages: 242
ISBN-13: 9289071931
DOWNLOAD EBOOKPeople have always travelled within Europe for work and leisure, although never before with the current intensity. Now, however, they are travelling for many other reasons, including the quest for key services such as health care. Whatever the reason for travelling, one question they ask is "If I fall ill, will the health care I receive be of a high standard?" This book examines, for the first time, the systems that have been put in place in all of the European Union's 27 Member States. The picture it paints is mixed. Some have well developed systems, setting standards based on the best available evidence, monitoring the care provided, and taking action where it falls short. Others need to overcome significant obstacles.
Private Medical Insurance in the United Kingdom
Author: Thomas Foubister
Publisher:
Published: 2006
Total Pages: 132
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis study provides a descriptive overview of the market for supplementary voluntary health insurance (VHI), or private medical insurance (PMI), in the United Kingdom. The structure of the study reflects the three principal dimensions of the market: the product, demand, and supply. An appendix discusses the market for health cash plans.
Implementing Health Financing Reform
Author: Joseph Kutzin
Publisher: World Health Organization
Published: 2010
Total Pages: 438
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAnalyses the experience with the financing reforms implemented by the countries of Central Europe, Eastern Europe, the Cauxasus and Central Asia.
The Impact of Health Insurance in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Author: Maria-Luisa Escobar
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 2011-01-01
Total Pages: 239
ISBN-13: 0815705611
DOWNLOAD EBOOKOver the past twenty years, many low- and middle-income countries have experimented with health insurance options. While their plans have varied widely in scale and ambition, their goals are the same: to make health services more affordable through the use of public subsidies while also moving care providers partially or fully into competitive markets. Colombia embarked in 1993 on a fifteen-year effort to cover its entire population with insurance, in combination with greater freedom to choose among providers. A decade later Mexico followed suit with a program tailored to its federal system. Several African nations have introduced new programs in the past decade, and many are testing options for reform. For the past twenty years, Eastern Europe has been shifting from government-run care to insurance-based competitive systems, and both China and India have experimental programs to expand coverage. These nations are betting that insurance-based health care financing can increase the accessibility of services, increase providers' productivity, and change the population's health care use patterns, mirroring the development of health systems in most OECD countries. Until now, however, we have known little about the actual effects of these dramatic policy changes. Understanding the impact of health insurance–based care is key to the public policy debate of whether to extend insurance to low-income populations—and if so, how to do it—or to serve them through other means. Using recent household data, this book presents evidence of the impact of insurance programs in China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ghana, Indonesia, Namibia, and Peru. The contributors also discuss potential design improvements that could increase impact. They provide innovative insights on improving the evaluation of health insurance reforms and on building a robust knowledge base to guide policy as other countries tackle the health insurance challenge.
Health Policy and European Union Enlargement
Author: Mckee
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
Published: 2004-04-01
Total Pages: 312
ISBN-13: 0335226442
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhile there may be consensus on the broader issues of the core objectives of the health care system, expectations differ between EU countries, and European national policy-makers. This book seeks firstly to assess the impact of the enlargement process and then to analyse the challenges that lie ahead in the field of health and health policy.
Health at a Glance: Europe 2020 State of Health in the EU Cycle
Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Published: 2020-11-19
Total Pages: 237
ISBN-13: 926481194X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe 2020 edition of Health at a Glance: Europe focuses on the impact of the COVID‐19 crisis. Chapter 1 provides an initial assessment of the resilience of European health systems to the COVID-19 pandemic and their ability to contain and respond to the worst pandemic in the past century.
Organization and Financing of Public Health Services in Europe
Author: Rechel B.
Publisher: World Health Organization
Published: 2018-11-20
Total Pages: 161
ISBN-13: 9289051728
DOWNLOAD EBOOKHow are public health services in Europe organized and financed? With European health systems facing a plethora of challenges that can be addressed through public health interventions there is renewed interest in strengthening public health services. Yet there are enormous gaps in our knowledge. How many people work in public health? How much money is spent on public health? What does it actually achieve? None of these questions can be answered easily. This volume brings together current knowledge on the organization and financing of public health services in Europe. It is based on country reports on the organization and financing of public health services in nine European countries and an in-depth analysis of the involvement of public health services in addressing three contemporary public health challenges (alcohol obesity and antimicrobial resistance). The focus is on four core dimensions of public health services: organization financing the public health workforce and quality assurance. The questions the volume seeks to answer are: o How are public health services in Europe organized? Are there good practices that can be emulated? What policy options are available? o How much is spent on public health services? Where do resources come from? And what was the impact of the economic crisis? o What do we know about the public health workforce? How can it be strengthened? o How is the quality of public health services being assured? What should quality assurance systems for public health services look like? This study is the result of close collaboration between the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and the WHO Regional Office for Europe Division of Health Systems and Public Health. It accompanies two other Observatory publications: Organization and financing of public health services in Europe: country reports and The role of public health organizations in addressing public health problems in Europe: the case of obesity alcohol and antimicrobial resistance.
Private Voluntary Health Insurance in Development
Author: Alexander S. Preker
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Published: 2007
Total Pages: 460
ISBN-13: 0821366203
DOWNLOAD EBOOKPrivate voluntary health insurance already plays an important role in the health sector of many low and middle income countries. The book reviews the context under which private insurance could contribute to an improvement in the financial sustainability of the health sector, financial protection against the costs of illness, household income smoothing, access to care, and market productivity. This volume is the third in aseries of in-depth reviews of the role of health care financing in providing access for low-income populations to needed healthcare, protecting them from the impoverishing effects of illness, and addressing the important issues of social exclusion in government financed programs.
