Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Health Affairs’ July/August 2008 edition discusses the health care system of 2 emerging powers: China and India. Today, I will analyze the two countries health care systems over time and what they they can expect in the future. Like most developed countries, healthcare spending as a percentage of GDP has risen over time for these…
On Friday I reported that the U.S. scored poorly on the Commonwealth Fund’s National Scorecard. Those in favor of universal health care are probably rejoicing. “The U.S. system is dysfunctional beyond repair and we need universal health care!” Yesterday, the Economist reported on an article in The Lancet Oncology journal which found that the U.S.…
The Washington Post reports that U.S. Health Care [is] Still Ill. This conclusion comes from a report from the Commonwealth Fund titled Results from the National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance, 2008. Even though the U.S. still spends more money on medical care than any other nation, performance on the Scorecard has not improved…
Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School has launched HealthMap, an automated data-gathering system used to track disease. HealthMap aims to organize and disseminate this online information using feeds from various public health organizations. This is similar to the concept I first saw at the Who Is Sick website, but the HealthMap seems to be…
The Telegraph reports that Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) has enacted a constitution. “[The constitution] will set out the rights and responsibilities for patients and what they can expect from the NHS in the 21st century. It is being seen by ministers as a chance to reiterate the founding principles of the health service, emphasising…
A recent paper by Wesiz et al. (Eur J Pub Health 2008) attempts to compare mortality rates and avoidable mortality rates in the urban core of 3 world cities: London (Inner London); New York (Manhattan) and Paris. Mortality The authors find that Paris has the lowest mortality rates and New York has the highest mortality…
As mentioned in previous posts, most health insurance in the France public health care system involves significant copayments. While this helps to reduce the moral hazard problem, it may prevent poor individuals from utilizing the care they need. In 2000, France introduced free complementary health insurance plan which covers most out-of-pocket payments for the poorest…
Canada has a single payer system but the provinces have the bulk of the responsibility of running the health care system for their own residents. In order to qualify for federal funding, each province must meet the following criteria. Universality. Available to all provincial residents on uniform terms and conditions; Comprehensiveness. Covering all medically necessary…
The most significant difference between Germany’s health care system and that of other countries is its use of sickness funds. All Germans with incomes under €46,300 are required to enroll in one of the sickness funds. Those with higher incomes can either join a sickness fund themselves or opt out and instead buy private insurance.…
I have already written about Switzerland in previous posts (see Swiss Healthcare Sytem: Part I, and Part II). Still of all the countries with universal health care, Switzerland’s is the most market-oriented and merits discussion. Switzerland’s health care spending as a percentage of GDP is second only behind the U.S. (11.6% of GDP for Switzerland,…