Short Abstract
Interest group politics is known to have growing influence on the health policy-making process. This paper utilizes a political economy model to examine how the organization of industry can shape insurance coverage and public involvement in the insurance debate.
Keywords/Tags: political economy; interest group politics; health insurance policy
Key Messages
Confronted with higher degree of unionization and health insurance payouts for employees, large firms are more likely to support universal coverage reforms as a means of redirecting health cost to the public sector.
Public involvement has an important role in the health insurance reform debate and can yield substantial influence over government decisions to pursue universal coverage policies.
Recommendations/Main Conclusions
Contingent on the capacity of corporate interests to subdue aggregate activities, the greater their influence over policy decisions relative to smaller firms.
Public participation within the health policy process can be leveraged to influence government decisions. Societies with a high public preference for redistribution through taxation are more likely to support increased health spending and universal health coverage reform.
Within a government structure that is proliferated by political actors with veto power, the Implementation of universal insurance schemes can be difficult.
Citation Information
Source Type: Journal Article
Author(s): Alena Kimakova
Journal: Atlantic Economic Journal
Volume: 38
Pages: 23-36