Influence of immigration on prematurity in the context of a free healthcare system with universal coverage.

Abstract In 1961, a new and mandatory National Health Insurance plan was enacted in Japan. This healthcare system has succeeded in providing universal coverage while also containing the growth of national medical expenditures (NME) to the rate of growth of the gross national product (GNP), namely, approximately 4-5% annually, for several decades. All Japanese medical procedures, including dental procedures, prescription drugs, and diagnostic tests, are reimbursed by a fee schedule set by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The combination of strict fee control and low administration costs has kept the Japanese NME growth below that of the GNP. In 1990, NME was 20.6 trillion yen ($187 billion), total diagnostic testing expenditures (DTE) were 2.3 trillion yen, representing 11.2% of national medical expenditures (NME). Of this amount, in vitro diagnostic testing accounted for 1.4 trillion yen, representing 61% of DTE and 6.8% of NME. Annually, 1.8 billion in vitro diagnostic tests are performed.

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Correction to: Determinants of healthcare seeking and out-of-pocket expenditures in a “free” healthcare system: evidence from rural Malawi

Health Economics Review ◽

10.1186/s13561-020-00277-w ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Meike Irene Nakovics ◽

Stephan Brenner ◽

Grace Bongololo ◽

Jobiba Chinkhumba ◽

Olivier Kalmus ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Healthcare System ◽

Healthcare Seeking ◽

Free Healthcare

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Ireland

10.1093/oso/9780198860525.003.0005 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 75-114

Author(s):

Camilla Devitt

Keyword(s):

Healthcare System ◽

Historical Development ◽

Universal Coverage ◽

Public Hospitals ◽

The Political ◽

Health Politics ◽

Means Testing ◽

Hospital Development ◽

Political Spectrum ◽

Government Legislation

This chapter provides an extended look at health politics and the largely tax-financed health system in Ireland. It traces the historical development of the Irish healthcare system, characterized by the institutionalization of a health service that obliged and incentivized the middle classes to pay for their healthcare, out-of-pocket or through voluntary private health insurance. Since the late 1980s, the hospital sector has become more privatized, while universal coverage has been partially introduced to the primary sector. While center-right government legislation which institutionalized the treatment of private patients in public hospitals elicited strong parliamentary opposition from across the political spectrum, the fiscal incentivization of private hospital development, introduced by a center-right coalition, was subject to little debate. The most significant turning point in healthcare policy since 1989 has been the removal of means-testing and provision of free general practitioner care to the under-6s and the over-70s. Cross-party consensus on a plan to move towards a universal tax-based healthcare system was reached in 2017.

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Public–private partnerships for universal health coverage? The future of “free health” in Sri Lanka

Globalization and Health ◽

10.1186/s12992-019-0522-6 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (S1) ◽

Author(s):

Ramya Kumar

Keyword(s):

Sri Lanka ◽

Healthcare System ◽

Universal Health Coverage ◽

Historical Context ◽

Health Indicators ◽

Public Private Partnerships ◽

Health Coverage ◽

Private Interests ◽

Free Healthcare ◽

Universal Health

AbstractSri Lanka reports impressive health indicators compared to its peers in the South Asian region. Maternal and infant mortality are relatively low, and several intractable communicable diseases have been eliminated. The publicly financed and delivered “free” healthcare system has been critical to these health achievements. Placing the country’s healthcare system in historical context, this commentary analyses the contradictions and political tensions surrounding Sri Lanka’s 2018 Universal Health Coverage (UHC) policy, with attention to the Ministry of Health’s plans for public–private partnerships (PPP). As economic exigencies and private interests increasingly erode the 1951 “Free Health” policy, this commentary calls for a re-envisioning of UHC that can meet people’s aspirations for health and social justice.

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The provincial health office as performance manager: change in the local healthcare system after Thailand's universal coverage reforms

The International Journal of Health Planning and Management ◽

10.1002/hpm.2113 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 27 (4) ◽

pp. 308-326 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Siranee Intaranongpai ◽

David Hughes ◽

Songkramchai Leethongdee

Keyword(s):

Healthcare System ◽

Universal Coverage ◽

Local Healthcare

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Evaluation of healthcare policy in Latvia

SHS Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/shsconf/20184002002 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 40 ◽

pp. 02002

Author(s):

I. Bikava ◽

A. Skride

Keyword(s):

Healthcare System ◽

Ad Hoc ◽

Universal Coverage ◽

Weak Efficiency ◽

Health In All Policies ◽

Short Term ◽

Policy Documents ◽

The Public ◽

Evaluation Of Performance

Performance of healthcare system of Latvia has been criticised for several years, due to the problems of accessibility, weak efficiency and insufficient funding. Politicians, foreign and local experts all agree upon the need of reforms to improve the performance of the healthcare system. The aims are defined in long-term policy documents, but there are no defined tasks to be made and aims to be achieved in mid-term and short-term policy. The aim of the research was to make evaluation of performance of Latvia healthcare system as well as evaluation according to “Health 2020” framework recommendations. The results showed that changes in the healthcare system in Latvia are made on ‘ad-hoc’ basis without a strategic long-term plan, and despite the fact that guidelines on the public health refear to “Health 2020”, the changes that are made and reforms that are planned are not in compliance with “Health 2020”. Work on social determinants (equity, universal coverage, accessibility) hasn’t been effective, the aim ‘health in all policies’ hasn’t been achieved and the primary healthcare due to its unaccessibility doesn’t provide expected efficiency in the whole healthcare system.

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Cyprus

10.1093/oso/9780198860525.003.0017 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 375-394

Author(s):

Mamas Theodorou ◽

Kostas Athanasakis

Keyword(s):

Health System ◽

Healthcare System ◽

Economic Crisis ◽

National Health ◽

National Health System ◽

Universal Coverage ◽

Health Politics ◽

Incremental Change ◽

Legal Foundation ◽

New System

This chapter offers an in-depth look at health politics and the health system in Cyprus. It traces the development of Cyprus’s healthcare system, which underwent only minor incremental change from its founding in 1957 until 2019, despite numerous studies and proposals. Though calls for universal coverage and free-at-the-point-of-service care had become louder in the early 1990s, it took until 2001 for Parliament to establish the legal foundation for a new national health system. Still, full implementation was repeatedly postponed for many reasons, from concerns about the new system’s cost to resistance from important stakeholders, especially those that benefitted from the shortcomings of the earlier system. As the chapter explains, economic crisis ultimately created the momentum for reform, resulting in the actual full launch of the new system in 2019 and 2020.

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Organ Donation and Transplantation in the Canadian Healthcare System

Journal of Transplant Coordination ◽

10.1177/090591999700700204 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 59-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

David B Colpitts ◽

Christian L Freitag

Keyword(s):

Organ Donation ◽

Healthcare System ◽

Universal Coverage ◽

The United States ◽

Tissue Donation ◽

Health Card ◽

Universal Healthcare ◽

Physician Care ◽

Healthcare Insurance ◽

Canadian Healthcare

Healthcare in Canada differs significantly from that in the United States. All Canadians have access to healthcare, and all 10 provinces of Canada have universal healthcare insurance plans that cover hospitalization and physician care. Each province administers its own healthcare system financed on an equal basis with the federal government, and each provincial resident is issued a health card that must be presented at hospitals or physicians' offices whenever medical care is requested. Canadian healthcare provides coverage for organ and tissue donation, transplantation, and cyclosporine for life for all transplant recipients. Canadian healthcare encompasses four basic principles: (1) universal coverage, (2) comprehensive coverage, (3) accessible care for all Canadians, and (4) portability of care. Canada has no national organization for organ donation and transplantation. The organ donation rates in Canada have averaged 14.1 donors per million population over the last 5 years, and are unchanged from previous years.

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It Won’t Be Easy: How to Make Universal Pharmacare Work in Canada

International Journal of Health Policy and Management ◽

10.15171/ijhpm.2019.82 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

Steven Lewis

Keyword(s):

Healthcare System ◽

Prescription Drugs ◽

Universal Coverage ◽

Status Quo ◽

Pharmaceutical Policy ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Federal Level ◽

Universal Healthcare ◽

The Status ◽

Universal Healthcare System

One of the glaring gaps in Canada’s universal healthcare system is the low level of public financing of prescription drugs - 42.7% of total spending in 2018. At the federal level there is renewed interest in moving towards universal coverage, supported by a recently commissioned report on how to achieve it. It will take superb political navigation to extract Canadian pharmaceutical policy and practice from the grasp of interests that profit handsomely from the status quo. This perspective suggests the conditions under which a genuinely fair, effective, and efficient pharmacare plan can emerge.

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