Market-based health care reform during democratic transition in Bosnia and Herzegovina was complicated by the 1992-1995 war, that devastated the country and greater part of its health care infrastructure. The course of the transition and consequences of war for the health system and health professionals are presented here from the perspective of the author. The description of real-life situatio...

Access to medical care is a central concern to U.S. policymakers and those interested in health care reform. Wide disparities in access by poverty status and health insurance status are of special importance. This Statistical Brief describes trends in access to health care through the period between 1996-2006 using data from the Household Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS-...

health reforms that emphasize public health and improvements in primary care can be cost-effective measures to achieve health improvements, especially in developing countries that face severe resource constraints. in their paper “shanghai rising: health improvements as measured by avoidable mortality since 2000,” gusmano et al suggest that shanghai’s health policy-makers have been successful in...

mcdonough’s perspective on healthcare reform in the us provides a clear, coherent analysis of the mix of access and delivery reforms in the affordable care act (aca) aka obamacare. as noted by mcdonough, this major reform bill is designed to expand access for health coverage that includes both prevention and treatment benefits among uninsured americans. additionally, this legislation includes s...

This article provides an overview of managed health care in the USA--what has been achieved and what has not--and some lessons for policy-makers in other parts of the world. Although the backlash by consumers and providers makes the future of managed care in the USA uncertain, the evidence shows that it has had a positive effect on stemming the rate of growth of health care spending, without a ...

BACKGROUND In 2003, the New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) was introduced in China to re-establish health insurance for the country's vast rural population. In addition, the coverage of NCMS has been expanding after the new health care reform launched in 2009. This study aims to examine whether the NCMS and its recent expansion have reached the goal of reducing the risk and inequality of cat...

background & purpose: since 2005, a reform known as rural insurance and family medicine scheme has introduced to primary health care network in iran in rural areas and small towns. the content of the reform implies a substantial change in those aspects of health centers that mainly could be categorized as structural quality. although, this is the requirement of all health care providers, they a...

New governance practices associated wit the modernisation of health systems within Europe focus on equipping health consumers with more information and power in their interactions with clinicians. This paper uses material on health care reform in Britain and Germany to highlight ways in which consumerism is refracted through different institutional histories and current political projects. Thes...

This article analyzes the historical and contemporary development of the Argentine health care system from the viewpoint of equity, a principle which is not explicitly mentioned in the system's founding documents. However, other values can be identified such as universal care, accessibility, and solidarity, which are closely related to equity. Nevertheless, the political dynamics characterizing...