Social health insurance systems in western Europe (2005)

Edited by Richard B. Saltman, Reinhard Busse & Josep Figueras
Published by Open University Press
European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies series
2004, 328 pages
ISBN 0 335 21363 4 (Paperback) £24.99
ISBN 0 335 21364 2 (Hardback) £70.00

Using the seven countries in western Europe with social health insurance systems - Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland - as well as Israel, this book reviews the core structural and organizational dimensions of such systems, as well as recent reforms and innovations.

Covering a wide range of policy issues, the book explores the pressures these social health insurance systems face to be more efficient, more effective, and more responsive; reviews their success in addressing these pressures; examines the implications of change on their structure; and draws policy lessons from past experience and considers likely future developments in social health insurance.

Social health insurance systems in western Europe will be of interest to students of health policy and management, as well as to health managers and policy-makers in Europe and elsewhere.