Welfare, Choice and Solidarity in Transition

Reforming the Health Sector in Eastern Europe
Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-0-521-15937-1
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 380 Seiten, Format (B × H): 140 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 535 g

Reihe: Federico Caffè Lectures

Reform of the welfare sector is an important yet difficult challenge for all countries in transition from socialist central planning to market-oriented democracies. Here a scholar of the economics of socialism and post-socialist transition and a health economist take on this challenge. This 2001 book offers health sector reform recommendations for ten countries of Eastern Europe, drawn consistently from a set of explicit guiding principles. After discussing sector-specific characteristics, lessons of international experience, and the main set of initial conditions, the authors advocate reforms based on organized public financing for basic care, private financing for supplementary care, pluralistic delivery of services, and managed competition. Policymakers need to achieve a balance, both assuring social solidarity through universal access to basic health services and expanding individual choice and responsibility through voluntary supplemental insurance. The authors also consider the problems that undermine effectiveness of market-based competition in the health sector.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kornai, Janos

Kornai, János

Eggleston, Karen

Fachgebiete

• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Medizin, Gesundheitswesen Gesundheitssystem, Gesundheitswesen
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Demokratie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Part I. Points of Departure: 1. The general principles of reform; 2. The characteristics of the health sector; 3. Some international experiences; 4. The health sector in Eastern Europe: the initial state; Part II. Guidelines for Reform: 5. The demand side: financing, benefits, and organization of insurance; 6. The supply side: delivery system ownership, organization, and contracting; 7. The interaction of supply and demand: pricing, payment, hard budget constraints, and overall health-sector development; 8. Concluding remarks.