Hungary

2021 ◽  
pp. 723-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mária Éva Földes
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
Social Health Insurance ◽  
Quality Of Healthcare ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Managed Competition ◽  
Access To Health Services ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
The Social ◽  
Insurance Model

This chapter offers an in-depth look at health politics and the social health insurance-based system in Hungary. It traces the development of the Hungarian healthcare system, characterized by seismic shifts from a Bismarckian, solidarity-based social health insurance to centrally planned healthcare pledging universal access to health services as a citizen’s right. After the fall of state socialism, Hungary returned to a social health insurance model, and since then the main policy efforts have focused on decentralization, strengthening of private provision and entrepreneurship, and financial consolidation of the health system. After the highly contested and ultimately failed attempt to introduce managed competition and user fees between 2006 and 2008, there has been a shift back to an increasingly centralized system with tax-based financing. As noted in the chapter, the consequences of recentralization for the solidarity, accessibility, affordability, and quality of healthcare in Hungary are still to be seen.

Slovakia

2021 ◽  
pp. 767-787
Author(s):  
Tamara Popic
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Social Health Insurance ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Managed Competition ◽  
Healthcare Provision ◽  
Health Politics ◽  
Dramatic Shift ◽  
Insurance Model

This chapter offers an in-depth look at health politics and the health system in Slovakia based on compulsory social health insurance. It traces the development of the Slovak healthcare system, characterized by the shift from a social health insurance model to a Semashko model of health provision under communism. Slovak post-communist health politics has been marked by strong left–right political conflict and institutional barriers to reforms. Nevertheless, health policy in Slovakia displays a dramatic shift to a market-oriented healthcare provision based on user fees and managed competition, introduced in 2003 and 2004. Attempts to reverse market-oriented reforms were partially successful and have involved supranational and international authorities of the European Commission and of the International Court of Arbitration. As outlined in the chapter, some of the main issues facing the Slovak healthcare system have been overcapacity in the hospital sector, a malfunctioning referral system, and corruption.

scholarly journals The impact of social health insurance on rural populations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Green ◽  
Bruce Hollingsworth ◽  
Miaoqing Yang
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Social Health Insurance ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Rural Populations ◽  
Access To Health Services ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
The Impact

AbstractImproving health outcomes of rural populations in low- and middle-income countries represents a significant challenge. A key part of this is ensuring access to health services and protecting households from financial risk caused by unaffordable medical care. In 2003, China introduced a heavily subsidised voluntary social health insurance programme that aimed to provide 800 million rural residents with access to health services and curb medical impoverishment. This paper provides new evidence on the impact of the scheme on health care utilisation and medical expenditure. Given the voluntary nature of the insurance enrolment, we exploit the uneven roll-out of the programme across rural counties as a natural experiment to explore causal inference. We find little effect of the insurance on the use of formal medical care and out-of-pocket health payments. However, there is evidence that it directed people away from informal health care towards village clinics, especially among patients with lower income. The insurance has also led to a reduction in the use of city hospitals among the rich. The shift to village clinics from informal care and higher-level hospitals suggests that the NRCMS has the potential to improve efficiency within the health care system and help patients to obtain less costly primary care. However, the poor quality of primary care and insufficient insurance coverage for outpatient services remains a concern.

scholarly journals Participatory and responsive governance in universal health coverage: an analysis of legislative provisions in Thailand

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. e004117
Author(s):  
Aniqa Islam Marshall ◽  
Kanang Kantamaturapoj ◽  
Kamonwan Kiewnin ◽  
Somtanuek Chotchoungchatchai ◽  
Walaiporn Patcharanarumol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Social Health Insurance ◽  
Universal Coverage ◽  
Civil Servant ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
Medical Benefit ◽  
The Social ◽  
Universal Health ◽  
Universal Coverage Scheme

Participatory and responsive governance in universal health coverage (UHC) systems synergistically ensure the needs of citizens are protected and met. In Thailand, UHC constitutes of three public insurance schemes: Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme, Social Health Insurance and Universal Coverage Scheme. Each scheme is governed through individual laws. This study aimed to identify, analyse and compare the legislative provisions related to participatory and responsive governance within the three public health insurance schemes and draw lessons that can be useful for other low-income and middle-income countries in their legislative process for UHC. The legislative provisions in each policy document were analysed using a conceptual framework derived from key literature. The results found that overall the UHC legislative provisions promote citizen representation and involvement in UHC governance, implementation and management, support citizens’ ability to voice concerns and improve UHC, protect citizens’ access to information as well as ensure access to and provision of quality care. Participatory governance is legislated in 33 sections, of which 23 are in the Universal Coverage Scheme, 4 in the Social Health Insurance and none in the Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme. Responsive governance is legislated in 24 sections, of which 18 are in the Universal Coverage Scheme, 2 in the Social Health Insurance and 4 in the Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme. Therefore, while several legislative provisions on both participatory and responsive governance exist in the Thai UHC, not all schemes equally bolster citizen participation and government responsiveness. In addition, as legislations are merely enabling factors, adequate implementation capacity and commitment to the legislative provisions are equally important.

Consolidating the social health insurance schemes in China: towards an equitable and efficient health system

The Lancet ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 386 (10002) ◽  
pp. 1484-1492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingyue Meng ◽  
Hai Fang ◽  
Xiaoyun Liu ◽  
Beibei Yuan ◽  
Jin Xu
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Health System ◽  
Social Health Insurance ◽  
Social Health ◽  
The Social

Serbia

2021 ◽  
pp. 918-928
Author(s):  
Tamara Popic
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Social Health Insurance ◽  
Waiting Lists ◽  
The Self ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Healthcare Provision ◽  
Health Politics ◽  
Insurance System ◽  
Insurance Model ◽  
Universal Health

This chapter offers an in-depth look at health politics and the universal health system in Serbia based on compulsory social health insurance. It traces the development of the Serbian healthcare system after the breakup of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, characterized by a move from the self-managed insurance model to a more standard Bismarckian health insurance system combined with passive privatization. Despite efforts to restructure healthcare provision through a reform in 2005, the system’s two-tier structure remains firmly entrenched, protected by professional interests. The chapter highlights other healthcare issues including long waiting lists and corruption.

Supplementary Health Insurance and Regulation of Healthcare Systems

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitte Dormont
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Cost Sharing ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Private Insurance ◽  
Social Health Insurance ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Managed Competition ◽  
Benefit Package ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Supplementary Health Insurance

Most developed nations provide generous coverage of care services, using either a tax financed healthcare system or social health insurance. Such systems pursue efficiency and equity in care provision. Efficiency means that expenditures are minimized for a given level of care services. Equity means that individuals with equal needs have equal access to the benefit package. In order to limit expenditures, social health insurance systems explicitly limit their benefit package. Moreover, most such systems have introduced cost sharing so that beneficiaries bear some cost when using care services. These limits on coverage create room for private insurance that complements or supplements social health insurance. Everywhere, social health insurance coexists along with voluntarily purchased supplementary private insurance. While the latter generally covers a small portion of health expenditures, it can interfere with the functioning of social health insurance. Supplementary health insurance can be detrimental to efficiency through several mechanisms. It limits competition in managed competition settings. It favors excessive care consumption through coverage of cost sharing and of services that are complementary to those included in social insurance benefits. It can also hinder achievement of the equity goals inherent to social insurance. Supplementary insurance creates inequality in access to services included in the social benefits package. Individuals with high incomes are more likely to buy supplementary insurance, and the additional care consumption resulting from better coverage creates additional costs that are borne by social health insurance. In addition, there are other anti-redistributive mechanisms from high to low risks. Social health insurance should be designed, not as an isolated institution, but with an awareness of the existence—and the possible expansion—of supplementary health insurance.

scholarly journals Governance and Purchasing Function under Social Health Insurance in Nepal: Looking Back and Moving Forward

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-87
Author(s):  
Vishnu Prasad Sapkota ◽  
Umesh Prasad Bhusal
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Social Health Insurance ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
Health Security ◽  
The Social ◽  
Development Committee ◽  
Health Services Needs

Nepal is pursuing Social Health Insurance as a way of mobilizing revenues to achieve Universal Health Coverage. The Social Health Insurance governance encourages service providers to maintain quality and efficiency in services provision by practicing strategic purchasing. Social Health Security Programme is a social protection program which aspires to achieve the goals of Social Health Insurance. Social Health Security Development Committee needs to consider following experiences to function as a strategic purchaser. The Social Health Security Development Committee need to be an independent body instead of falling under Ministry of Health. Similarly, purchasing of health services needs to be made strategic, i.e., Social Health Security Development Committee should use its financial power to guide the provider behavior that will eventually contribute to achieving the goals of quality and efficiency in service provision. The other social health security funds should be merged with Social Health Security Development Committee and develop a single national fund. Finally, the state has to regulate and monitor the performance of the SHI agency.

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