Comparative Health Systems. A New Framework

The book proposes a new theoretical framework for understanding and comparing healthcare systems. This framework is applied to the healthcare systems in twenty-seven OECD countries. As for the financing side, seven different funding models are introduced: (1) The direct market; (2) Voluntary health insurance; (3) Social health insurance; (4) Targeted programs; (5) Mandatory residence insurance; (6) The universalist model; (7) Medical savings accounts. Regarding the healthcare provision, two opposing models are outlined: the integrated and the separated models. The dimensions of healthcare funding and provision are combined with each other. From the intersection of these two dimensions, four families of healthcare systems stand out. The two larger families reflect the traditional contrast between "Social Health Insurance" systems and "National Health Service" systems. The two smaller families are made up, respectively, of countries that have a separated universalist system and countries that adopt the mandatory residence insurance model. From the four families just outlined, three countries are excluded: Greece, Israel and the United States can be considered as "outliers."