As the 2008 presidential election renews the debate about health insurance coverage, the United States can learn from the experience of countries that have recently moved to achieve universal coverage. What gains can we expect from coverage for all in improved health, better access to health care, and reduced financial burdens for the most vulnerable patients? What are the potential downsides o...

Many proposed health insurance reforms would establish a federal minimum benefit standard--a baseline set of benefits to ensure that people have adequate coverage and financial protection when they purchase insurance. Currently, benefit mandates are set at the state level; these vary greatly across states and generally target specific areas rather than set an overall standard for what qualifies...

This Issue Brief reviews surveys that provide estimates of the uninsured population in the United States. It includes a discussion of why the estimates from the various surveys differ. It is important to understand the differences in the estimates of the uninsured population. The projected cost of implementing policy proposals depends on the estimates of the number of people affected by the pro...

BACKGROUND The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) recently signed an agreement to provide limited open access to the databases within the Korean Diabetes Association for the benefit of Korean subjects with diabetes. Here, we present the history, structure, contents, and way to use data procurement in the Korean National Health Insurance (NHI) system for the benefit of Korean researchers. ...

The redistributive effects of a social insurance programme are determined by how the programme is paid for-who pays and how much do they pay?-and how the benefits are distributed. As a result, the redistributive effects of a social health insurance programme should be evaluated on the basis of its net benefit-the difference between benefits and payment. Among the rich body of empirical analysis...

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