Summary |
The research for this volume shows that private voluntary health insurance (PVHI) can contribute to social goals like other forms of health insurance. When properly designed and coupled with subsidies, it contributes to the well-being of poor and middle-class households, not just the rich. And it can contribute to development goals such as improved access to health care, better financial protection against the cost of illness, and reduced social exclusion.
The world of technical experts and policy wonks is divided into two camps. One vilifies private voluntary health insurance as an evil to be avoided at all cost. Its constituency claims that such insurance leads to overconsumption of care, escalating costs, shunting of scarce resources away from the poor, cream skimming, adverse selection, moral hazard, and an inequitable, U.S.-styled health care system.
|
