Health Insurance Values and Implementation in the Netherlands and the Federal Republic of Germany
An Alternative Path to Universal Coverage
- Bradford L. Kirkman-Liff, DrPH
Abstract
The health care systems in the Netherlands and the Federal Republic of Germany are based on a set of values that involve mutual obligations between private parties. These obligations are realized through systems incorporating private practice physicians, community and church- and municipality-affiliated hospitals, and nonprofit and for-profit insurers. The underlying values and implementation approaches in these systems provide an alternative to the adoption of a Canadian-style health insurance system. A discussion that focuses on "obligations" rather than "rights" may be a more useful approach for the design of reforms of the American health system in the 1990s. Such a discussion would focus on the mutual responsibility of all parties to create and maintain a universal private health care system.
(JAMA. 1991;265:2496-2502)
Footnotes
-
The views expressed are the author's own and not necessarily those of any of the sources of support.
-
Reprint requests to School of Health Administration and Policy, College of Business, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-4506 (Dr Kirkman-Liff).
