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The Way Forward: A Look at Liberalization of LDC Health Insurance Markets
Author(s) -
Muth Karl T.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
global policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.602
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1758-5899
pISSN - 1758-5880
DOI - 10.1111/1758-5899.12210
Subject(s) - liberalization , payment , business , service (business) , health insurance , state (computer science) , space (punctuation) , health care , developing country , developed country , financial services , economic growth , development economics , economics , finance , market economy , population , marketing , environmental health , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , algorithm , computer science
This article explores the historical and contemporary problem of health care provision with a focus on the least developed countries ( LDC s) and heavily indebted poor countries ( HIPC s). The paper concludes that, while there may be advantages to state‐run insurance systems for vulnerable populations (e.g. the indigent or the widowed elderly), there is likely a space for fee‐for‐service and pay‐per‐premium health care to develop alongside other familiar western institutions, like retail banking and telecommunications services. This discussion of financial evolution concludes with a comparison to postwar Japan and other contexts in which complex, locally unprecedented payment systems have been quick to take root and have been very successful.