• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.91-94
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• 2024

For nearly four decades, Ugandans have experienced a period marked by hope, conflict, and resilience across various aspects of healthcare reform. The health insurance system in Uganda lacks a legal framework and does not extend benefits to the entire population. In Uganda, community-based health insurance is common among those in the informal sector, while private medical insurance is typically provided to employees by their workplaces and agencies. The National Health Insurance Scheme Bill, introduced in 2019, was passed in 2021. If the President of Uganda gives his assent to the National Health Insurance Bill, it will become a significant policy driving health and universal health coverage. However, this bill is not without its shortcomings. In this perspective, we aim to explore the complex interplay of challenges and opportunities facing Uganda's health sector.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.148-157
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• 2011

Objectives: Although compensation for occupational injuries and diseases is guaranteed in almost all nations, countries vary greatly with respect to how they organize workers' compensation systems. In this paper, we focus on three aspects of workers' compensation insurance in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries - types of systems, employers' funding mechanisms, and coverage for injured workers - and their impacts on the actual frequencies of occupational injuries and diseases. Methods: We estimated a panel data fixed effect model with cross-country OECD and International Labor Organization data. We controlled for country fixed effects, relevant aggregate variables, and dummy variables representing the occupational accidents data source. Results: First, the use of a private insurance system is found to lower the occupational accidents. Second, the use of risk-based pricing for the payment of employer raises the occupational injuries and diseases. Finally, the wider the coverage of injured workers is, the less frequent the workplace accidents are. Conclusion: Private insurance system, fixed flat rate employers' funding mechanism, and higher coverage of compensation scheme are significantly and positively correlated with lower level of occupational accidents compared with the public insurance system, risk-based funding system, and lower coverage of compensation scheme.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.57-94
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• 2000

Korea's social health insurance system was introduced in 1977, which has made a universal coverage possibly by July 1989. Korean government had pursued a single objective for the last decade to put the whole population under the coverage of medical security, and the objective was achieved within 12 years. The rapid accomplishment is primarily due to such factors as limited benefits, high copayment rate, low contributions as well as rapid economic growth. There are several sources of pressure for the implementation of social health insurance such as health professional group, labor unions, politicians, international organizations etc.. However it is important to look at the feasibility of social health insurance. Among other things, it is necessary to identify the administrative infrastructure of insurance system and to assess income for source of fund. As many developed countries, Korea began to apply health insurance to the employees of the large firms, and the expansion based on employment status. Thus the several funds system was inevitable according to the gradual expansion strategy. However many persons had criticized several funds system in respect with equity and efficiency aspects. In the short history of the Korean health insurance, whether one fund or sever or funds had been the most controversial issue. In Febrary 1999, the National Assembly passed the act of one fund system. From July 2000 separate funds will be unifed under new health insurance scheme. In this study we will analyze the policy making process on implementation, expansion and integration of health insurance system of Korea. And also analyse problems related to policy making.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.28 no.2 s.50
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• pp.450-461
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• 1995

This paper tested by using Micro TSP, an empirical econometric analysis to approve officially a hypothesis of price elasticity of the demand for medical care services in Korean national medical insurance and the economic effect of health care delivery system with time-series datas of Medical Insurance Statistical Yearbook$(1981\sim1993)$. The results suggest that the Korean medical insurance system shows moral hazard due to the change of coinsurance and the economic effect according to intervention of the health care delivery system, but it is different by insurers regardless of the same structure of the medical insurance scheme.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.34-57
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• 2004

Universal health insurance normally requires a basic benefit package, whose design intersects with almost all other aspects of the health insurance debate. Despite its central importance, basic benefit package has not received the analysis it deserves in Korea. The issue of how to decide which health services should be delivered and to whom has been a matter for consistent policy debate. Many industrialized countries observed in this study have been dealing explicitly or implicitly with the basic benefit package. The methods vary from having a specific positive list of services (Bismarkian countries) to the use of guidelines (Beveridgian countries). The purpose of this paper is to form the underlying principles and process for determining what is included or left out by getting accurate and representative responses from health-related personnel. Mail survey is used. Economic burden for treatment, seriousness of disease and urgency of treatment are ranked at the first three priorities. Services that had been suspended because of financial crisis in health insurance scheme in 2001 were selected as items which should firstly be expanded into coverage. Diagnostic test against heart disease and vaccination were also selected as items which should additionally belong to the list of covered services.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.243-261
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• 2006

Priority setting in national health insurances in major advanced countries and the nation was investigated to draw the criteria for priority setting and suggest the most rational criteria for dental insurance so as to help secure the efficiency of medicare financing and individual's health right and also elevate medical consumers' satisfaction with health insurance. 1. Priorities in national health insurance are different from country to country, depending on the medical security systems, priority introducing conditions, and social environment, but have many common factors. 2. The priority setting criteria for national health insurance in those countries include the following in common: the efficiency, equity, and cost effect of treatment, emergency of treatment, consumption of expense, efficacy of treatment, patient's receptiveness, patient's demand, severity of disease, and patient's responsibility for the disease. 3. In oral diseases, severe diseases including oral cavity cancer are low in rate, and in-hospital treatments are few. From the above findings, it is suggested that dental insurance should establish discriminative criteria for priority setting by reflecting the aspects of dental diseases and system difference between dental and other health insurances and taking account of efficiency of treatment through prevention, cost effect, prevalence and incidence of generalized diseases, and individual's financing burden.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.232-265
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• 1998

Taiwan has experienced rapid economic growth during the past two decades. As a result, the demand for health care in Taiwan has increased rapidly. To meet the rising demand, Taiwan implemented a National Health Insurance (NHI) program on March 1, 1995. This program now covers more than 96 percent of Taiwan's citizens. Implementation of the NHI in 1995 represents fulfillment of a primary social and health policy goals of Taiwan. The goals of the NHI program is to eliminate financial barriers of health care for the citizens, to improve the quality of care. To achieve these goals, the NHI was designed on the following principles: 1. All Taiwan citizens are compul내교 joined the NHI program by law; 2. The NHI program provides comprehensive services; 3. The NHI is run by one single govt' subsidy; 5. The NHI adopt fee-for-services scheme to pay medical expenses and copayment to avoid abouse of medical services. However, the scheme did not bring in the efficient use of health care C. National Health Council, 1986 NARC, Aging in Japan, International Publication Series 1991;2 Kahana EF. Kiyak HA. Attitude and behavior of staff in facilities for the aged, 1984 Naoki I, John CC. Health polic report japan's medical care system, New England Joumal of Medicine 1995; 333(19) National Economic Research Associates, The Health CAre System in Japan, NERA, 1993. National Federation of health Insurance Societies (KEMPOREM), Health Insurance and Health Insurance Societies in Japan, 1995. Owe Ahlund, Aging and housing in sweden, Paper presented at the International Symposium, Long term Care Facility, 1993. Statisitics Jahrbuch, Statistisches Bundesamt, 1992. Stein S. Linn, MIW. and Stein EM. Patient's anticipation of stress in nursing home care, 1985. U. S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, A Report of the special Committee on Aging, Washing D. C, 1992. U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1994.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1-26
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• 2010

We achieved both industrialization and democratization during the shortest period in the world. We also achieved good performance in national health insurance: universal coverage, solidarity in financing, equitable access of health care. However, national health insurance system has faced the problem of sustainability: various expenditure and financing problems. The problem of sustainablity has two facets of economic sustainability and fiscal sustainability. Economic sustainability refers to growth in health spending as a proportion of gross domestic product(GDP). Rapid increasing rate of health spending exceeds the growth rate of domestic product. Growth in health spending is more likely to threaten other areas of economic activity. Concern on fiscal sustainability relates to revenue and expenditure on health care. Health care financing face demographic and technical obstacles. Democratic obstacle is aging problem. Technical obstacle is collection of contribution. Expenditure of health care has various problems in benefit structure and efficiency of health care system. In this article, I suggest several policy reforms to enhance sustainability: generating additional revenue from value added tax, changing method of levying contribution, increasing efficiency of health care system by introducing the competition principle. restructuring of benefit scheme of health insurance. contracting with health care institutions to provide health care services.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.69-118
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• 2007

In providing general medical treatments, the medical service contract between the patient and the doctor is the mutually responsible onerous contract. However, the nature of the mutually assumed contract standings of the patient and the doctor has been changing since the implementation of the national health insurance program. For instance, besides the cases of beyond excessive medical charges and medical negligence, if the doctor charged for his/her medical treatments violating the post-treatment/nursing cover criteria, the overpaid medical charge, regardless of being collected with the patient's consent, has to be refunded back to the patient. Medically needed aspects, treatment results, and unfair benefits favoring the patient are not at all taken into consideration in the health insurance scheme. This makes it easier for patients to get refunds for their share of the medical payments by involving the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service or the National Health Insurance Corporation, without engaging in civil law suits (for reimbursement claim) against doctors. In other words, the doctor's responsibility to provide medical treatments and the patient's responsibility to pay for the medical treatment provided within the contractual realm are being demolished by the administrational arbitration of the National Health Insurance system. The basic rights of medical service providers, and the patient's right to choose are as important constitutional rights, as the National Health Insurance program, which is essential in the social welfare system. Furthermore, the development of the medical fields should not be prevented by the National Health Insurance system. If the medical treatment services can be divided into necessary treatments, general treatments, and high quality treatments, the National Health Insurance is supposed to guarantee the necessary and general treatments to provide medical treatments equally to all the insured with limited financial resources. However, for the high quality treatments, it is recommended that they should not be interfered by the National Health Insurance system, and that they should be left to the private contract between the patient and the doctor.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.179-194
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• 1991

Despite its universal coverage of health insurance, the rural health insurance program(RHIP) stands at the crossroads in Korea. The RHIP has weaknesses in stability of financing, problems of inequities in the provision of health services and has suffered from high cost of running the program. The author has analyzed these problems from the perspective of health insurance policy and presented several options for improvement. First of all, this study urged the importance of a firm Governmental commitment of RHIP with the 50% subsidization of contributions as the Government had promised, instead of the current 40%. This can be justified from the 20% subsidization by the Government for the contributions of private school teachers and their dependents, who belong to richer segments of the population. Second, various cost containment measures ought to be sought curbing the rising demand for medical through strengthening health education and increasing individual responsibility, and tightening the claim review process. Third, this study requires the Government to run a demonstration project on the introduction of case payment system for primary health care. Fourth introducing an income-related cost sharing scheme is another possibility. Reforming the cost sharing formula for large medical expenditures is recommendable for a beginning. This measure can take the form of tax credit for medical expenditures of the poor. Fifth, the degree of financial adjustment among health insurance plans should be levelled up for enhancing stability of RHIP and social solidarity. Sixth, health policy should be redirected toward development of rural health resources and higher priority should be put on relieving difficulties in access to care. Seventh. the insurance plan owned-hospital needs to be developed or provision of health services in the medically underserved areas, and the need of such facilities is particularly acute for geriatric care, rehabilitation and renal dialysis, etc. Eighth, more generous insurance benefits are required of the elderly who are suffering the most : elimination of the maximum 180 days of benefit period and provision of glasses and artificial dentures, etc. Ninth. the economies of scale principle is working for the operating expenses of regional self-employed insurance plan. Thus, measures should be instituted to pursue an optimum size of health insurance plans. Lastly, excessive dependence on exclusion items is an evil so that some radical remedies are urgently required to cut them.