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Publicly funded healthcare is a form of health care financing designed to meet the cost of all or most healthcare needs from a publicly managed fund. Usually this is under some form of democratic accountability, the right of access to which are set down in rules applying to the whole population contributing to the fund or receiving benefits from it.
The healthcare industry is an aggregation and integration of sectors within the economic system that provides goods and services to treat patients with curative, preventive, rehabilitative, and palliative care. It includes the generation and commercialization of goods and services lending themselves to maintaining and re-establishing health. The modern healthcare industry includes three essential branches which are services, products, and finance, and may be divided into many sectors and categories and depends on the interdisciplinary teams of trained professionals and paraprofessionals to meet the health needs of individuals and populations.
Health insurance or medical insurance is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among many individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health risk and health system expenses over the risk pool, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to provide the money to pay for the health care benefits specified in the insurance agreement. The benefit is administered by a central organization, such as a government agency, private business, or not-for-profit entity.
Healthcare in Canada is delivered through the provincial and territorial systems of publicly funded health care, informally called Medicare. It is guided by the provisions of the Canada Health Act of 1984, and is universal. The 2002 Royal Commission, known as the Romanow Report, revealed that Canadians consider universal access to publicly funded health services as a "fundamental value that ensures national health care insurance for everyone wherever they live in the country."
The five Regions of Denmark were created as administrative entities at a level above the municipalities and below the central government in the public sector as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, when the 13 counties (amter) were abolished. At the same time, the number of municipalities (kommuner) was cut from 270 to 98. The reform was approved and made into a law by the lawmakers in the Folketing 26 June 2005 with elections to the 98 municipalities and 5 regions being held Tuesday 15 November 2005.
A public hospital, or government hospital, is a hospital which is government owned and is fully funded by the government and operates solely off the money that is collected from taxpayers to fund healthcare initiatives. In some countries, this type of hospital provides medical care free of charge to patients, covering expenses and wages by government reimbursement.
Health care in Saudi Arabia is a national health care system in which the government provides free universal healthcare coverage through a number of government agencies. There is also a growing role and increased participation from the private sector in the provision of health care services. Saudi Arabia has been ranked among the 26 best countries in providing high quality healthcare.
Healthcare in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter, with England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each having their own systems of publicly funded healthcare, funded by and accountable to separate governments and parliaments, together with smaller private sector and voluntary provision. As a result of each country having different policies and priorities, a variety of differences have developed between these systems since devolution.
Healthcare in Malaysia is mainly under the Ministry of Health. Malaysia generally has an efficient and widespread system of health care, operating a two-tier health care system consisting of both a government base universal healthcare system and a co-existing private healthcare system. While there is a universal healthcare system, specialist services require queuing despite being free. Hence the private health care plays a major role in providing specialist services which complements the universal health care.
The Swedish health care system is mainly government-funded, universal for all citizens and decentralized, although private health care also exists. The health care system in Sweden is financed primarily through taxes levied by county councils and municipalities. A total of 21 councils are in charge with primary and hospital care within the country.
Healthcare in the Netherlands is differentiated into several main categories. Firstly in three different echelons; secondly in physical (somatic) versus mental healthcare; and thirdly in "cure" versus "care".
Germany has a universal multi-payer health care system paid for by a combination of statutory health insurance and private health insurance.
The French health care system is one of universal health care largely financed by government national health insurance. In its 2000 assessment of world health care systems, the World Health Organization found that France provided the "best overall health care" in the world. In 2017, France spent 11.3% of GDP on health care, or US$5,370 per capita, a figure higher than the average spent by rich countries, though similar to Germany (10.6%) and Canada (10%), but much less than in the US. Approximately 77% of health expenditures are covered by government funded agencies.
Healthcare in Georgia is provided by a universal health care system under which the state funds medical treatment in a mainly privatized system of medical facilities. In 2013, the enactment of a universal health care program triggered universal coverage of government-sponsored medical care of the population and improving access to health care services. Responsibility for purchasing publicly financed health services lies with the Social Service Agency (SSA).
Health care in Poland is insurance based, delivered through a publicly funded health care system called the Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia, which is free for all the citizens of Poland provided they fall into the "insured" category. According to Article 68 of the Polish Constitution everyone has a right to have access to health care. Citizens are granted equal access to the publicly funded healthcare system. In particular, the government is obliged to provide free health care to young children, pregnant women, disabled people, and the elderly. However, private healthcare use is very extensive in Poland. Patients who are uninsured have to pay the full cost of medical services. According to a study conducted by CBOS in 2016, out of 84% patients taking part in the survey, 40% declared use of both private and public health services, 37% use only public health care, and 7% use only private health services. 77% of all responders declared using private health care is caused by long waiting for public health care services.
Healthcare in Denmark is largely provided by the local governments of the five regions, with coordination and regulation by central government, while nursing homes, home care, and school health services are the responsibility of the 98 municipalities. Some specialised hospital services are managed centrally.
Iceland has a state-centred, publicly funded universal healthcare system and health insurance that covers the whole population. The number of private providers in Iceland has increased. The healthcare system is largely paid for by taxes (84%) and to some extent by service fees (16%) and is administrated by the Ministry of Health. A considerable portion of government spending is assigned to healthcare. There is almost no private health insurance in Iceland and no private hospitals. In very limited cases, access to a private provider can be reimbursement for services provided that the conditions are met.
In Norway, municipalities are in charge of providing basic healthcare. Since the money given to municipalities is not set aside for any particular purpose, each municipality is free to determine its own health budget. Municipalities coordinate primary healthcare services through agreements with independent physicians. In Norway, private healthcare providers are not compensated unless they have a contract with the public health service.
This article provides a brief overview of the health care systems of the world, sorted by continent.
References
- ↑ "Health Service in Greenland". Norden. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- ↑ Niclasen, Birgit; Mulvad, Gurt (2010). "Health care and health care delivery in Greenland". International Journal of Circumpolar Health. 69 (5): 437–487. doi: 10.3402/ijch.v69i5.17691 .