Social Health Insurance for Developing Nations
Good health is necessary for well-being but also has another critical impact: it causes poverty, in that large health expenditures can bankrupt families. Many nations are now hoping that formally mandated social health insurance (SHI), involving pa...
Main Authors: | , |
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Other Authors: | |
Language: | English en_US |
Published: |
Washington, DC: World Bank
2012
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Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/01/8517127/social-health-insurance-developing-nations http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6860 |
Summary: | Good health is necessary for well-being
but also has another critical impact: it causes poverty, in
that large health expenditures can bankrupt families. Many
nations are now hoping that formally mandated social health
insurance (SHI), involving payroll taxes, will provide a
solution. This report examines the principles, design, and
practices of SHI for low and middle-income nations and the
necessary conditions for its viability and sustainability,
with a focus on design and implementation issues. This
volume presents five country case studies to provide
evidence and greater detail on key issues that arise at
different stages of implementation in low-income countries.
They have been selected to reflect on a continuum and
timeline of operational stages, beginning with the initial
design and legislation of SHI, the first phase of
implementation, the expansion to cover larger segments of
the population, and on up to completion, whereby SHI becomes
the predominant form of health care financing in a country.
Accordingly, Kenya has been selected for illustration of the
design stage, Ghana for initiation, the Philippines for
extension of population coverage, Colombia for SHI and
reform of health care delivery, and Thailand for universal
coverage and reform of health care delivery. This sequencing
and implied timeline of case studies allows this report to
reflect on two questions. First, where can a country expect
to be in relation to designing and implementing SHI in, say,
10 years? Second, as countries gain experience with SHI,
what can they expect to offer or achieve in terms of
variations in benefit design, who administers SHI, and how
providers are contracted and paid? |
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