This paper analyses the Irish private health insurance (PHI) market. It describes how PHI interacts with the public system, and assesses its contribution to equity, efficiency and responsiveness of the health system. The analysis identifies some of...

While France has a universal public health insurance system, the coverage it provides is incomplete and the vast majority the French population has private complementary health insurance. Among OECD countries, the share of health care financed by...

Despite universal public insurance coverage, private health insurance (PHI) covers almost half of the Australian population – a high coverage rate in comparison with most other OECD countries. Reflecting the belief that a well-functioning health care...

Major disparities in the cost of health care have made the pricing of specialist and hospital services a contentious issue in South Africa, particularly in the private sector. To help inform policy debate, this paper profiles selected experiences on...

This paper reviews policies in the area of healthy ageing. With the ageing of OECD countries’ population over coming decades, maintaining health in old age will become increasingly important. Successful policies in this area can increase the...

This study presents the results of a joint analysis of patterns of consumption, expenditure, and unit expenditure for a core set of drugs aimed at preventing and treating cardiovascular disease. The current study examines the relationships among...

This paper examines aspects of the policy environment and market characteristics of the Swiss pharmaceutical sector, and assesses the degree to which Switzerland has achieved certain policy goals. In Switzerland, pharmaceutical spending has not been...

This paper examines aspects of the policy environment and market characteristics of the Swedish pharmaceutical sector, assesses the degree to which Sweden has achieved certain policy goals, and puts forth some key findings and conclusions. Thanks to...

This paper examines aspects of the policy environment and market characteristics of Slovakia's pharmaceutical sector, and assesses the degree to which Slovakia has achieved certain policy goals. Pharmaceutical expenditure in Slovakia accounts for a...

This paper examines aspects of the policy environment and market characteristics of Mexico's pharmaceutical sector, and assesses the degree to which Mexico has achieved certain policy goals. This paper questions the effectiveness of the maximum price...

This paper describes pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement policies in Germany, considering them in the broader environment in which they operate, and assesses their impact on the achievement of a number of policy goals. Pharmaceutical coverage is...

This paper describes and assesses pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement policies in Canada, considering them in the context of the broader policy and market environment in which they operate, and investigating their role in contributing to...

Across OECD countries, pharmaceutical spending reached around USD 800 billion in 2013, accounting for about 20% of total health spending on average when pharmaceutical consumption in hospital is added to the purchase of pharmaceutical drugs in the...

This paper presents findings of an OECD review of managed entry agreements in OECD countries and EU member states conducted in 2018 and 2019. Findings are based on discussions with the OECD Expert Group on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices,...

The Ageing-Related Diseases study compares treatment trends and health outcomes on a disease-by-disease basis. Most of the day-to-day decisions that determine health care system performance are made in treating specific diseases. Therefore, the ARD’s...

Many OECD countries have undergone reforms over the past decade to introduce advanced roles for nurses in primary care to improve access to care, quality of care and/or to reduce costs. This working paper provides an analysis of these nurse role...

Many countries are seeking to improve health care delivery by reviewing the roles of health professionals, including nurses. Developing new and more advanced roles for nurses could improve access to care in the face of a limited or diminishing supply...

The United States has the largest professional nurse workforce in the world numbering close to 3 million but does not produce enough nurses to meet its growing demand. A shortage of close to a million professional nurses is projected to evolve by...

This study assesses the potential of the concept of “mortality amenable to health care” as an indicator of outcome for health care systems. It presents estimates of the mortality amenable to health care in 31 OECD countries for the period 1997-2007....

Italy has an aging population which is placing a strain on the public health system and on families. At the same time, it has a distorted market of supply of health professionals. Past over enrolment in medical faculties has produced a current glut...