Healthcare in the Netherlands
A 2008 article in the journal "Health Affairs" suggested that the Dutch health system, which combines mandatory universal coverage with competing private health plans, could serve as a model for reform in the US. However,
an assessment of the 2006 Dutch health insurance reforms published in Duke University's "Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law" in 2008 raised concerns. The analysis found that market-based competition in healthcare may not have the advantages over more publicly based single payer models that were originally envisioned for the reforms:
Health care reform
As evidenced by the large variety of different healthcare systems seen across the world, there are several different pathways that a country could take when thinking about reform. In comparison to the UK, physicians in Germany have more bargaining power through professional organizations (i.e., physician associations); this ability to negotiate affects reform efforts. Germany makes use of sickness funds, which citizens are obliged to join but are able to opt out if they have a very high income (Belien 87). The Netherlands used a similar system but the financial threshold for opting out was lower (Belien 89). The Swiss, on the other hand use more of a privately based health insurance system where citizens are risk-rated by age and sex, among other factors (Belien 90). The United States government provides healthcare to just over 25% of its citizens through various agencies, but otherwise does not employ a system. Healthcare is generally centered around regulated private insurance methods.