Global push to guarantee health coverage leaves U.S. behind - Los Angeles Times

Before embarking on its healthcare push, the Mexican government found that 4 million people every year were being driven into bankruptcy by illness. "That was a huge drag on the economy," Frenk said.

Today, Mexico's new government insurance plan — known as Seguro Popular — covers more than 50 million people, filling the gap left by the traditional health insurance system funded by payroll taxes.

Such steps don't eliminate all financial strain on households. Indeed, in many poor nations that are expanding healthcare coverage, such as Vietnam and the Philippines, people still must pay most of their own medical bills, a sign of skimpy coverage.

Governments, too, feel the strain.Colombia'suniversal healthcare system, set up in 1993, has cost more than twice what was expected, said Ramiro Guerrero, a former vice minister of health.

Even so, there is growing evidence that universal coverage is protecting millions worldwide from financial ruin.

In Rwanda, researchers found that citizens who had joined one of the nation's health plans were nearly 75% less likely to be hit with a catastrophic healthcare bill that threatened to bankrupt them.

And while the impact of broader coverage on overall health is still unclear, there are some signs that citizens of countries that are committed to guaranteeing health coverage are getting more treatment for serious illnesses.

In Mexico, the 30-month survival rate for children with cancer has more than doubled since the creation of the Seguro Popular program in 2003. In Ghana, visits to clinics and hospitals have doubled since the West African country passed a universal health law in 2003, said Nathaniel Otoo, general counsel for the National Health Insurance Authority of Ghana.

The universal system has also become a foundation for improving the quality of medical care in many countries such as China, where the government is now pushing a major overhaul in the way physicians are trained.

"That is the next challenge," said Dr. Jeanette Vega, a former vice minister of health in Chile who is now managing director of the New York-based Rockefeller Foundation.

noam.levey@latimes.com

12 May, 2012

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Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-global-health-reform-20120512,0,4695600.story?page=2&track=lat-email-topofthetimes-May122012
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