INTRODUCTION Cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates in the United States have decreased 67% over the past 3 decades, a reduction mainly attributed to widespread use of the Papanicolaou (Pap) test for cervical cancer screening. In the general population, receipt of cervical cancer screening is positively associated with having health insurance. Less is known about the role insurance plays...

PURPOSE To examine the current experience of school-based health centers (SBHCs) in meeting the needs of children and adolescents, changes over time in services provided and program sponsorship, and program adaptations to the changing medical marketplace. METHODS Information for the 1998-1999 Census of School-Based Health Centers was collected through a questionnaire mailed to health centers ...

OBJECTIVE To identify policies that increase access to health care for undocumented Mexican immigrants. MATERIALS AND METHODS Four focus groups (n=34 participants) were conducted with uninsured Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles, California. The feasibility and desirability of different policy proposals for increasing access were discussed by each group. RESULTS Respondents raised significan...

background : performance of a health system is of great importance since it is the major means for improving health. until now, various methods have been proposed for assessing the performance of the health system. the method proposed by world health organization is based on three major goals of the health system: health improvement, accountability, and equity in financial contribution. equity ...

PROBLEM Undocumented migrant workers are generally ineligible for state social security schemes, and either forego needed health services or pay out of pocket. APPROACH In 2001, the Thai Ministry of Public Health introduced a policy on migrant health. Migrant health insurance is a voluntary scheme, funded by an annual premium paid by workers. It enables access to health care at public facilit...

BACKGROUND Rwanda has achieved great improvements in several key health indicators, including maternal mortality and other health outcomes. This raises the question: what has made this possible, and what makes Rwanda so unique? METHODS We describe the results of a web-based survey among district health managers in Rwanda who gave their personal opinions on the factors that drive performance i...

Much of the existing literature on the financial protection of health insurance focuses on the impact of insurance status on total out-of-pocket expenditure on all sorts of care sought, regardless of whether the insured patients use their health insurance cards. Using Vietnam's 2006 Household Living Standard Survey data and an appropriate multivariate regression model, this article assesses the...

The purpose of this article is to examine the notion that reinsurance can stabilise the financial operation of small community based health schemes (micro-insurance) in low-income settings. Stabilisation activity focuses on counteracting adverse financial consequences of local catastrophes, the impact of excessive statistical fluctuations due to small group size, and the error in estimating pro...