Regulating private health insurance to serve the public interest: policy issues for developing countries

2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neelam Sekhri ◽  
William Savedoff
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Private Health Insurance ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
Interest Policy

scholarly journals Reflections on the role of less-than-comprehensive (exclusionary) private health insurance hospital products in the Australian healthcare system

2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter E. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Private Health Insurance ◽  
Insurance Scheme ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
Insurance Policies ◽  
Exclusionary Policies ◽  
First Time

The number of people in Australia that are currently covered by a hospital private health insurance product continues to rise every quarter. In September 2010, for the first time since the introduction of the public universal social insurance scheme, Medicare, more than 10 million persons in Australia are covered by private health insurance. Although the number of persons covered by private health insurance continues to grow, the quality and level of cover that members are holding is changing significantly. In an effort to limit premium rises and to reduce the benefits paid for treatment, private health insurers have introduced, and moved a large number of existing members to, less-than-comprehensive private health insurance policies. These policies, known as ‘exclusionary’ policies, are changing the dynamics of private health insurance in Australia. After examining the emergence and prevalence of these products, this commentary gives three different examples to illustrate how such products are changing the nature of private health insurance in Australia and are now set to create a series of policy issues that will require future attention.

The regulation of health care in Scandinavia: professionals, the public interest and trust

2018 ◽  
pp. 61-76
Author(s):  
Karsten Vrangbæk
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Health System ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
State Level ◽  
Professional Regulation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Voluntary Health Insurance

Scandinavian health systems have traditionally been portrayed as relatively similar examples of decentralised, public integrated health systems. However, recent decades have seen significant public policy developments in the region that should lead us to modify our understanding. Several dimensions are important for understanding such developments. First, several of the countries have undergone structural reforms creating larger governance units and strengthening the state level capacity to regulate professionals and steer developments at the regional and municipal levels. Secondly, the three Nordic countries studied experienced an increase in the purchase of voluntary health insurance and the use of private providers. This introduces several issues for the equality of users and the efficiency of the system. This paper will investigate such trends and address the question: Is the Nordic health system model changing, and what are the consequences for trust, professional regulation and the public interest?

scholarly journals Private health insurance and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme: how effective has recent government policy been?

2004 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff R J Richardson ◽  
Leonie Segal
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Private Health Insurance ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Common Element ◽  
Cost Shifting ◽  
The Public ◽  
Pharmaceutical Expenditures ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

The cost to government of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is rising at over 10 percent per annum. The government subsidy to Private Health Insurance (PHI) is about $2.4 billion and rising. Despite this, the queues facing public patients ? which were the primary justification for the assistance to PHI ? do not appear to be shortening. Against this backdrop, we seek to evaluate recent policies. It is shown that the reason commonly given for the support of PHI ? the need to preserve the market share of private hospitals and relieve pressure upon public hospitals ? is based upon a factually incorrect analysis of the hospital sector in the last decade. It is similarly true that the ?problem? of rising pharmaceutical expenditures has been exaggerated. The common element in both sets of policies is that they result in cost shifting from the public to the private purse and have little to do with the quality or quantity of health services.

scholarly journals Has the increase in private health insurance uptake affected the Victorian public hospital surgical waiting list?

2002 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Hanning
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Uptake Rate ◽  
Public Hospital ◽  
Private Health Insurance ◽  
Elective Surgery ◽  
Waiting List ◽  
Limited Data ◽  
The Public

It was anticipated that increased uptake of Private Health Insurance (PHI) would reduce demand on public sector surgical waiting lists. The best measure of changed demand is the comparison of the actual cases added to that projected given previous trends in PHI uptake. Detailed Victorian data is available up to 2000-1.The total waiting list has varied little, reflecting significant decreases in both in patients added to and removed. There was a marked increase in private sector elective surgery cases coinciding with the fall in additions to the public sector waiting list and in public sector elective surgical cases. The June 2001 Victorian surgical waiting list would have been 69,599 not 41,838 if the PHI uptake rate had continued to fall in line with pre-1999 trends, and that of June 2002 about 100,000 compared to 40,458 in March 2002.Limited data from other states suggests the Victorian trends are representative of all Australia.

scholarly journals RIGHTS, DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT: THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM’S ROLE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 394-420
Author(s):  
Vivian Maria Pereira Ferreira ◽  
Natalia Langenegger
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Judicial System ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Public Interest Litigation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
The World

This article seeks to discuss whether and how the judicial system has been assuming a new institutional role in the design of public policies aimed at promoting of Economical Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) in developing countries. Considering that these rights are crucial for human and social development, the article discusses the ways in which the judicial system might interfere with the process of development.Alongside a theoretical debate, the article presents a functionalist comparative study of the public interest litigation in Brazil, India and South Africa. It focuses on how judges seek to promote ESCR as well as on the benefits and problems of their intervention in public policies created by democratic governments and legislatures.The diagnosis that judicial systems around the world play different roles from the ones recommended by the economic neoliberal mainstream shows that several different institutional arrangements are possible and that some of them might be more adequate to the reality of the developing world. Therefore, the article hopes to provide insights to rethink global governance and the current knowledge on law and political economy from a new paradigm. 

scholarly journals Contemporary Public Policy Issues in Industrial Relations

2005 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-32
Author(s):  
Noël A. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Present System ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Impact

The present system of collective bargaining is more an exercise in the use of coercive economic and political power by labour and management than a process of rational, logical argument and existing conciliation procedures have proven inadequate in reflecting the public interest in dispute settlement. What then is the impact of B.C. Bill 33 ?

scholarly journals Willingness to pay for private health insurance among workers with mandatory social health insurance in Mongolia

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ochirbat Batbold ◽  
Christy Pu
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Health Expenditure ◽  
Private Health Insurance ◽  
Contingent Valuation Method ◽  
Social Health Insurance ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Working Population

Abstract Background High out-of-pocket health expenditure is a common problem in developing countries. The employed population, rather than the general population, can be considered the main contributor to healthcare financing in many developing countries. We investigated the feasibility of a parallel private health insurance package for the working population in Ulaanbaatar as a means toward universal health coverage in Mongolia. Methods This cross-sectional study used a purposive sampling method to collect primary data from workers in public and primary sectors in Ulaanbaatar. Willingness to pay (WTP) was evaluated using a contingent valuation method and a double-bounded dichotomous choice elicitation questionnaire. A final sample of 1657 workers was analyzed. Perceptions of current social health insurance were evaluated. To analyze WTP, we performed a 2-part model and computed the full marginal effects using both intensive and extensive margins. Disparities in WTP stratified by industry and gender were analyzed. Results Only < 40% of the participants were satisfied with the current mandatory social health insurance in Mongolia. Low quality of service was a major source of dissatisfaction. The predicted WTP for the parallel private health insurance for men and women was Mongolian Tugrik (₮)16,369 (p < 0.001) and ₮16,661 (p < 0.001), respectively, accounting for approximately 2.4% of the median or 1.7% of the average salary in the country. The highest predicted WTP was found for workers from the education industry (₮22,675, SE = 3346). Income and past or current medical expenditures were significantly associated with WTP. Conclusion To reduce out-of-pocket health expenditure among the working population in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, supplementary parallel health insurance is feasible given the predicted WTP. However, given high variations among different industries and sectors, different incentives may be required for participation.

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