International Portability of Health-Cost Cover: Mobility, Insurance, and Redistribution

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. International Portability of Health-Cost Cover: Terms of use: Documents inMobility, Insurance, and Redistribution AbstractPublic health insurance and other arrangements covering health-costs effectively provide insurance against changes in health status. These arrangements engage in burden-smoothing over the life cycle and entail various elements of redistribution. Lack of portability regarding this type of cover may impede international mobility and create financial losses or windfall gains on various sides, which can lead to risk segmentation across national health systems. Existing portability rules do not fully address these problems. In this paper, we try to clarify the implications of mobility for typical systems covering health costs and the requirements which have to be met to ensure full portability. When individuals are internationally mobile, compensating payments are needed based on changes in expected net costs in both of the health funds involved. Illustrative simulations show that this approach may be operative under real-world conditions. JEL-Code: F220, F550, H510, H730, J600.

The portability of social benefits across borders

“…For health care systems, it is largely unclear whether and to what extent fiscal fairness is or can be achieved under the current responsibility, cost determination, and reimbursement structure, or how important unfairness is. Major research is still required in this area [9].…”

The portability of social rights of the United Kingdom with the European Union: Facts, issues, and prospects

“…The outcomes in terms of healthcare provisions depend on the reimbursement regime used (lump-sum transfer or real-cost reimbursement). BSSAs and MSSAs typically do not consider the age profile for healthcare and, consequently, are bound to create fiscal unfairness (Werding and McLennan, 2015).…”

“…For the differences in country' access, see Médecins du monde International Network (2015). For an explanation of the rules of health care portability (in cash or in kind) that are applied within the EEA, see Werding and McLennan, 2015. Due to this heterogeneity within the EEA, one of the main barrier in accessing health care benefits abroad remains that, due to their diversity, health care systems are not 'migrant-friendly' and could 'overcoming language and cultural barriers, improving the competencies of health workers and organisations, and increasing the health literacy of migrants' (Rechel et al, 2013).…”

Do bilateral social security agreements deliver on the portability of pensions and health care benefits? A summary policy paper on four migration corridors between EU and non-EU member states

“…On the other hand, migrant women who give birth to children in the host country burden this health care system more during this episode relative to the revenues they contribute. Worldwide, no arrangement is in place to share the savings components of health care provisions of a migrant who contributed to the public health institutions of various countries (Werding and McLennan 2015;.…”

“…This ambiguity may be due less to the lack of a conceptual framework Werding and McLennan 2015) and more to a traditional and disputed implementation as well as differences in how countries themselves finance their health care provisions.…”