Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) recipients are the only individuals who qualify for Medicare, the universal health care program for retirees, before age 65. The two-year waiting period between the DI benefit award and Medicare eligibility offers an insight into the health insurance system in U.S. DI recipients are both constrained not to work and to be chronically ill or dying. Hence,...

Social Health Insurance has been used as an approach to increase efficiency of healthcare system and consumer satisfaction in provision of healthcare services. Many developed countries have successfully planned and implemented insurance models which provide almost universal coverage and addresses issues of equity. The phenomenon is established however, developing countries especially Eastern Me...

Dissatisfaction with the U.S. health care system is widespread, but no consensus has emerged as to how to reform it. The principal methods of finance-employer-based insurance, means-tested insurance, and Medicare-are deeply and irreparably flawed. Policymakers confront two fundamental questions: Should reform be incremental or comprehensive? And should priority be given to reforming the financi...

Since regaining its independence in 1991, Estonia has conducted radical health system reforms. The Estonian health system is based on mandatory, solidarity-based insurance and universal access to health services made available by providers operating under private law with primary health care (PHC) playing a central role. The financing of health care is mainly organized through the semi-autonomo...

insurance is an increasingly popular policy reform in developing countries. Thailand and Vietnam have long-standing efforts to achieve universal coverage through social insurance. Kenya is currently implementing such a reform. Caribbean countries have been debating the merits of 'National Health Insurance' since the mid-1990s; and many other countries in Asia and Africa are following suit. It i...

OBJECTIVE To synthesise the scientific evidence concerning barriers to health care access faced by migrants. We sought to critically analyse this evidence with a view to guiding policies. DESIGN A systematic review methodology was used to identify systematic and scoping reviews which quantitatively or qualitatively analysed data from primary studies. The main variables analysed were structura...

Private health insurance plays a large and increasing role around the world. This paper reviews international experiences and shows that private health insurance is significant in countries with widely different income levels and health system structures. It contrasts trends in private health insurance expansion across regions and highlights countries with particularly important experiences of ...