AIMS This study aimed to describe the current situation with regard to dental care provided under social insurance in Iran in qualitative terms and to assess it critically with regard to equity and efficiency. METHODS After a thorough review of the relevant literature, a template of topics, which included population coverage, range of treatment provided, contracting mechanisms, fees, level of...

Private health insurance is playing an increasing role in both high- and low-income countries, yet is poorly understood by researchers and policy-makers. This paper shows that the distinction between private and public health insurance is often exaggerated since well regulated private insurance markets share many features with public insurance systems. It notes that private health insurance pre...

Background Sudan established a National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) in 1995. NHIF, despite the name, is a social health insurance scheme that predominantly enrols the formal sector workers, compulsorily, and the informal sector workers, voluntarily. The Government is targeting universal health coverage by 2031, by expanding the existing scheme. This paper aims to assess the insurance enrolment...

THE AMENDMENTS TO THE Social Security .1ct passed in 1967 (Public Law 90-248) made several changes in the old-age, survivors, disability, hospital, and supplementary medical insurance system.’ Some of these changes affected significantly the actuarial status of the system. The principles used to determine tile financing stability of the program were not altered, however. This article discusses ...

The CHA establishes the criteria that provincial and territorial governments must meet in order to qualify for federal transfer payments. These guiding principles define the Canadian health care system, which has become the flagship of this country’s social service infrastructure and our most valued social program. The celebrated five pillars of the CHA are: public administration, comprehensive...

OBJECTIVES Social determinants of health include social and demographic factors such as poverty, education status, race and ethnicity, gender, insurance status, and other factors that influence (1) development of illness, (2) ability to obtain and utilize healthcare, and (3) health and healthcare outcomes. In otolaryngology, as in other subspecialty surgical fields, we are constantly confronted...

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...

In 2003, the Mexican Congress approved a reform establishing the Sistema de Protección Social en Salud [System of Social Protection in Health], whereby public funding for health is being increased by one percent of the 2003 gross domestic product over seven years to guarantee universal health insurance. Poor families that had been excluded from traditional social security can now enrol in a new...

Background The move to universal health coverage and consequently health promotion is influenced by political, socio-economic and other contextual factors in a country. Iran, as a developing country with an upper-middle national income, has developed policies to achieve universal health coverage through financial protection. This study aims to investigate barriers to develop financial protectio...