Summary |
In this volume, authors focus on the interaction between insurance systems and pharmaceuticals in developed countries, with special emphasis on the impact of benefit design on the market for prescription drugs. The wide spectrum of health care systems range from the purely government-run and government-financed model, notably the UK’s National Health Service, to models that wrest on competition between private insurers but with universal coverage, as in the Netherlands. The United States, often thought of as the most market-oriented country, actually occupies the middle ground. With large social insurance programs targeting the elderly, low income children or indigent adults, and other special populations, U.S. public spending accounts for nearly half of total health expenditures (OECD health data, 2009), leaving private insurers to compete over the rest.
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