Bangladesh Government Embarks on Health Insurance
On the road towards implementing a health coverage program
The following article was published in The Daily Star, a popular daily newspaper in Bangladesh. Jahangir Khan, a Health Economist at icddr,b provides immediate reflections on this article in the comments
The government in a pioneering move has set to introduce health insurance program as an alternative health care financing for the country's 5 crore poor people from early next year.
Under the system, each of the poor would be given health insurance card to cover their medical expenses. The government will pay the insurance premium from general taxes as the insurance cost, according to the health ministry.
"We will form a taskforce to this effect this month (July).
National Health Accounts Findings Open Dialogue for Improved Health Financing in Egypt
Health Systems 20/20 releases findings from a new round of National Health Accounts (NHA)
This blog post was featured on the Health Systems 20/20 website on July 21, 2011
Health Systems 20/20 joined Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) and other government leaders in Cairo in June 2011, to release findings from a new round of National Health Accounts (NHA). NHA, an international methodology that tracks the flow of financial resources through a country’s health system, provides key input for health resource planning. Sharing NHA findings illuminated the reality of health care spending in Egypt and opened an unprecedented dialogue between stakeholders at multiple levels seeking health financing solutions.
More than 140 professionals attended the event including Egyptian government planners, hospital managers, private sector representatives, journalists, and donors. Keynote addresses were given by the Minister of Health and Population Dr.
More Evidence of Rising Standards of Evidence
A Health Insurance Study in Oregon
This article was posted on the Center for Global Development blog on July 8, 2011
A working paper distributed this month by NBER and covered in the New York Times not only contributes to the growing number of rigorous studies on public policy questions but also epitomizes changing research norms that are crucial to improving the quality of such studies.
The study, “The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment: Evidence from the First Year,” used a natural experiment to answer questions about the impact of having health insurance on participants’ health care utilization, health status, and financial stress. A team of researchers heard that Oregon had insufficient funds to cover all 90,000 people who applied for subsidized health insurance and so chose to enroll people by lottery.
In Oregon, Having Health Insurance is Good for your Health (at least in the short-run)
Preliminary estimates of what may prove to be the most important study of the impact of health insurance on outcomes were released this week from a group of researchers from the NBER, Harvard, and MIT
Article originally published on Karen Grepin's Global Health Blog
In health economics circles, the word Oregon usually has a negative association – it was the site of one of the greatest health economics failures when it tried to making reimbursement decisions according to strict cost-effectiveness criteria. But all that is about to change. Preliminary estimates of what may prove to be the most important study of the impact of health insurance – at least among low-income populations – on outcomes were released this week from a group of researchers from the NBER, Harvard, and MIT (the NBER working paper is here).
Universal Health Coverage: What's all the buzz about?
Countries from South Africa to India to Indonesia are moving to provide universal coverage programs: Complexities and challenges
This piece was written in March 2011 for the Global Health Council (GHC) Blog 4 Global Health.
Universal Health Coverage. Still debated in the United States, the concept is taking off in countries from South Africa to India to Indonesia.
Integrating Social Franchising and Insurance
A marriage made in heaven?
The last decade has seen an important expansion of the social franchising model of service delivery, both in terms of the number of brands available and their geographic presence, as well as the scope of services offered. The 2011 Clinical Social Franchising Compendium identifies 50 franchises that are operating in 31 countries across the world - that is more than double the number of networks in operation just four years ago. The model’s geographic expansion has also been notable. New networks have sprung up in 17 new countries since 2003, covering larger parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, and more recently, Central America.
Although expanding steadily, service delivery through franchising is still in large part small scale, focused on a very specific set of interventions (e.g., primarily family planning and reproductive health), and remains out of reach for the very poor.
Public-Private Engagement for Better Health in Africa
New World Bank Group Report Assesses the Good, the Bad, and the Innovative
Connor Spreng, an economist at the World Bank, moderated a session on the IFC flagship report "Healthy Partnerships: How Governments Can Engage the Private Sector to Improve Health in Africa" at the JLN Mombasa Workshop.