Newer Comparisons

Universal coverage systems with a single primary insurer" include the "insurance" systems of Australia and Canada as well as the "service" systems of Sweden and the U.K.* "Universal coverage systems with multiple primary insurers but no choice" have multiple insurers within a geographic area but people assigned to an insurer according to some demographic trait -mainly occupation.This describes France and Japan in which neighbors in Paris or Tokyo could have different coverage based on their employment.* "Universal coverage systems with competing primary insurers," allow most people to choose an insurer -as in Germany, the Netherlands, or Switzerland.* "Systems without universal coverage," means the United States, which is unique in many ways but he sees partial coverage as the most fundamental.In Chapter 2 Rice then defines "key system components," or variables, that following chapters describe for each of the ten countries.These include: * Governance, such as the extent to which government agencies or private actors make key decisions or the extent to which central or subnational governments take the lead.* Financing, which includes sources of revenue, the progressivity or regressivity of those sources, and so both horizontal and vertical equity.* Coverage, which he very nicely defines in terms of breadth (across the population), scope (which benefits are covered), and depth (what proportion of the cost for a service is covered -i.e.cost-sharing issues).* The role of voluntary private insurance as a supplement to the primary coverage (so U.S. employer-sponsored coverage doesn't count).* Choice both of insurer and care provider, which varies mostly in the use of forms of gatekeeping.