Social health insurance systems in western Europe

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.