Overview

Health care financing is key in defining interactions between providers and the general population. It determines who is required to pay for care, how much they pay, and what types of services patients can receive. It also helps shape markets for health service providers and innovations in service delivery, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Paying for Health brings together insights from over 50 global experts to provide a vital analysis of health care financing around the world, explaining issues related to funding both health and social care. It explores key aspects of health financing, delving into critical policy questions and examining strategies that shape sustainable, effective health systems. Offering real-world examples and evidence-based insights, this essential volume equips policymakers, researchers, and health leaders with the tools to design financing systems that drive progress now and in the future towards universal health coverage.

Section 1: Revenue raising

• 1.1 General taxation and social health insurance
• 1.2 Community-based health insurance
• 1.3 Voluntary health insurance
• 1.4 Official development assistance for health
  

Section 2: Pooling resources and defining benefits

• 2.1 Approaches to risk pooling
• 2.2 Setting a health benefits package
• 2.3 Decommissioning/disinvestment: reducing the provision of low-value care
• 2.4 User charges
• 2.5 Long-term care: its financing and provision
  

Section 3: Commissioning and purchasing

• 3.1 Paying for primary care
• 3.2 Methods for paying hospitals
• 3.3 Informal payments in health care
• 3.4 Paying for medicines
• 3.5 Paying for integrated care
• 3.6 Balancing incentives to promote quality of care and improve long-term care
• 3.7 From vertical to horizontal priority-setting: funding and procurement mechanisms
• 3.8 Financing pandemic preparedness
• 3.9 Antibiotics as global public goods
• 3.10 Financing innovation for neglected diseases