 |
|
Lessons From France—'Vive la Différence'The French Health Care System and US Health System Reform
Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH;
Pierre-Jean Lancry, PhD
JAMA. 1993;270(6):748-756.
|
|
| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings. |
|
|
|
GERMANY, and Canada, maybe England. These countries are where US policy makers look for lessons applicable to reform of the US health care system. Why not France? France provides almost universal coverage with a uniform comprehensive benefit plan that, unlike those in the United States, includes pharmaceuticals, physical therapy, and even medically prescribed spa treatments. Consumers have coverage that follows them from job to job, including any intervening periods of unemployment. Out-of-pocket costs are capped below the level where they could cause financial hardship. There is free choice of office-based physicians and ancillary service providers for ambulatory care.
France spent 9.1% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on health care in 1991, similar to Canada (10.0%) and Germany (8.5%) but over 4 GDP percentage points less than the United States at 13.4%.1 Yet life expectancy in France at 81.1 years for women and 73.0 years for men in 1991
. . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]
Footnotes
In alphabetical order, from the Department of Health Services, UCLA School of Public Health, and Department of Pediatrics, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, Calif (Dr Fielding), and the University of Paris XII and CREDES (Centre de Recherche, d'Étude et de Documentation en Economie de la Santé), Paris, France (Dr Lancry).
Reprint requests to UCLA School of Public Health, Department of Health Services, 31-236 CHS, 10833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90024 (Dr Fielding).
 CiteULike  Connotea  Del.icio.us  Digg  Reddit  Technorati  Twitter
What's this?
|
