Payment Mechanisms under a National Health Program

Abstract

future time to extend the number of countries studied to determine if the conclusions reached here can be confirmed.The article begins with a discussion of who should pay hospitals and doctors and a subsequent exploration of the various modes of payment-first for hospitals, then for physicians. Thereafter, the article proceeds to brief examinations of two specific topics, patient cost sharing and closed-panel (HMO) enrollment. The conclusion proposes specific policies for paying hospitals and doctors under an American national health program.

Evolution of Taiwan’s health care system

“…It is worth mentioning that an international symposium themed ‘What can be learned from the experiences of the health care systems in developed nations?’, which invited scholars and experts from West Germany, UK, Canada, United States and Japan, was held in 1989 to solicit global experiences in health care reform 15. One among the many important lessons learned from abroad was the recommendation of the ‘single-payer model with a global budget’ for its efficiency through exercising monopsony power and significantly reducing administrative red tape, and containing health care cost (Reinhardt, 1981; Evans, 1983; Glaser, 1984; Himmelstein and Woolhandler, 1986; Whitney, 1988; Bodenheimer, 1989; Iglehart, 1990). The final recommendations in the planning report synthesized global experiences not only abstracted from published papers, books and research reports, but also the first-hand suggestions by the experts they interviewed during organized site visits to various national health authorities, namely Japan, Korea, Canada, UK, Sweden and West Germany.…”