As universal health care reemerges as a topic on the United States’ national agenda, a new report from the Insure the Uninsured Project compares universal healthcare systems in ten other nations, including Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The report finds several similarities among the systems studied, including the willingness of other nations to modify their systems in order to achieve universal coverage. It finds a strong sense of solidarity underlying the European systems it studies, with both citizens and government committed to the notion of universal coverage as an entitlement.
The report also looks at challenges faced by nations with universal coverage. Chief among these is the rising cost of health care, caused in part by an aging population, widespread chronic disease, and the increasing cost of pharmaceuticals. In dealing with these rising costs, nations must reconcile competing demands of their healthcare systems. Read the report.
