Welfare Reform on the Web (April 2002): Healthcare - Overseas
DRG-RELATED PRICES APPLIED IN A PUBLIC HEALTH CARE SYSTEM: CAN FINLAND LEARN FROM NORWAY AND SWEDEN?
H. Mikkola, I. Keskimäki, and U. Häkkinen
Health Policy, vol. 59, 2002, p. 37-51
Following the state subsidy reform of 1993 with delegated all hospital financing to municipalities, Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) based funding was introduced in some hospital districts in Finland to improve productivity. Study addresses the pros and cons of DRG in hospital financing in the Finnish health care system. Concludes that DRG could assist Finnish municipalities in comparing quality, costs and prices of services between hospitals, and related cost information might help them to budget expenditure more accurately. However system specific features mean that traditional uses of DRG is hospital pricing are not feasible in Finland.
EASTERN BLOCK
C. Normand
Health Service Journal, vol. 112, Jan 24th 2002, p. 27
Discusses progress in introducing social health insurance schemes in Central and Eastern Europe.
MEDICARE AND INEQUALITIES IN HEALTH OUTCOME : THE CASE OF BREAST CANCER
S. L. Decker and C. Rapaport
Contemporary Economic Policy, vol. 20, 2002, p. 1-11
Article evaluates whether expanding Medicare to cover those between 55 and 64 would improve their health status. Compares the survival rates of elderly and near-elderly women with breast cancer, paying particular attention to the experience of different demographic groups. Finds that expanding Medicare would not improve the chances of a black women having her cancer diagnosed early. However, if she did happen to be diagnosed early, the price effects of Medicare would increase her odds of survival.
NOT MUCH TO WRITE HOME ABOUT
A. Dixon and E. Mossialos
Health Service Journal, vol. 112, Jan. 24th 2002, p. 24-26
Social insurance systems in Europe are complex and this makes it difficult to establish who is paying for healthcare. France and Germany are in fact seeking to widen the revenue base of their health care systems through taxation. A wholesale move to social health insurance in the UK would involve significant upheaval and its benefits are unclear.
PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARDS PATIENT PAYMENTS IN BULGARIAN PUBLIC HEALTH CARE SECTOR: RESULTS OF A HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
M. Pavlova, W. Groot, and G. van Merode
Health Policy, vol. 59 2002 p. 1-24
Results of a household survey conducted in Varna in May-June 2000 are analysed by non-parametric statistical procedures. Results show that a majority of respondents accepted payment for public health care services provided that they were of good quality and that access was quick. On average charges for primary care and dental services received higher approval than charges for hospital services. A high percentage of respondents disagreed with charges being related to actual service costs and nearly all considered a ceiling on payments appropriate. There was also strong support for and extensive system of exemptions from payments.
REPORT OF THE NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON PALLIATIVE CARE (PDF format)
Dublin: Department of Health and Children, 2002
Report addresses the standard of palliative care services in Ireland. There is a wide variation in the type and level of service provision within each health board area. This issue is addressed and recommendations are made to ensure equitable palliative care services in all areas.
A SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANISATION AND FINANCING OF THE DANISH HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
T. Christiansen et al
Health Policy, vol. 59, 2002, p. 99-180
The organisation and financing of the Danish health care system was evaluated within the framework of a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). Health care in Denmark is 80% state funded through general taxation. The remaining 20% of spending is funded through user co-payment. Hospitals are owned, financed and run by the counties. General practitioners are private entrepreneurs but work under contract for the counties. Hospitals are financed by global budgets, while GPs are paid by a mixed remuneration system of capitation fees and fee-for-service.
UNDERSTANDING HEALTH POLICY: A CLINICAL APPROACH
T. Bodenheimer and K. Grumbach
London: McGraw Hill, 2002
This book examines the important issues of health policy by providing case histories that pinpoint individual encounters within the health care system. It covers issues such as access and paying for health care; reimbursing health care providers; mechanisms for controlling costs; long-term care; the prevention of illness; medical ethics and the rationing of health care to name just a few.
WHEN THE LAW IS AN ASP
H. Berliner
Health Service Journal, vol. 112, Jan. 24th 2002, p. 29
Describes the current debate in the US Congress on how to help unemployed people who are unable to afford health insurance.