This study used a discrete choice experiment in Switzerland to examine consumer preferences for value-based insurance design (VBID). Findings showed a strong status quo bias and resistance to higher cost-sharing or limiting low-value care, with preferences varying by...

Handle With Care: Four Ways to Give Asia’s Health Systems a Needed Safety Upgrade
The pursuit of universal health coverage (UHC) in the Asia and Pacific region has often overlooked the crucial aspect of patient safety, resulting in significant issues such as high rates of hospital-acquired infections and medication errors. This neglect not only...
Willingness to pay for a quality-adjusted life year (QALY) in Pakistan: implications for health policy
This study investigates the willingness to pay (WTP) for one additional Quality-Adjusted Life Year (QALY) among the general population in Pakistan, highlighting the economic constraints in healthcare resource allocation. A survey revealed a mean WTP of 114,006.4...
Health impact and economic evaluation of the Expanded Program on Immunization in China from 1974 to 2024: a modelling study
The Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in China, initiated by WHO in 1974, has significantly reduced disease burden by vaccinating against eight pathogens, averting an estimated 703 million cases and 2.48 million deaths over 50 years. The program has also...
Bridging healthcare gaps through specialized mobile healthcare services to improve healthcare access and outcomes in rural Hungary
This study assessed a public insurance-based telemedicine system in rural Hungary, where 12 Mobile Healthcare Service Centers provided general and specialist care to over 21,000 residents, resulting in the diagnosis of new hypertension and diabetes cases and high...

The Wait Is the Price: Quiet Rationing Plagues Canadian Health Care
The Canadian healthcare system, while publicly funded and perceived as free, involves significant wait times for medical services due to a mismatch between demand and supply, effectively rationing care. This inadequacy leads to substantial economic costs, estimated in...
Financing essential medicines and health supplies in Pakistan
ThinkWell Pakistan has recently published a series of insightful fact sheets exploring how public health facilities in Pakistan procure and finance essential medicines and health supplies (EMHS), along with the bottlenecks they face at each step of the process....

Singapore: New Digital Tool Simplifies Health Insurance Decisions
The Health Insurance Planner (HIP), introduced by Singapore's CPF Board and Ministry of Health, is a digital tool that helps citizens navigate and make informed decisions about their health insurance coverage by providing personalized insights into costs, benefits,...
Healthcare systems and health economics in GCC countries: informing decision-makers from the perspective of the Gulf health economics association
The discovery of oil has enabled GCC countries to provide universal healthcare to their citizens, but rising healthcare demands pose challenges in financing these systems effectively. Experts in health economics from the Gulf Health Economics Association held a focus...

Malaysia to develop basic health insurance, takaful products for more sustainable medical treatment access
Bank Negara Malaysia is collaborating with the Ministry of Health and the Employees Provident Fund to develop basic health insurance and takaful products focused on value-based healthcare, aiming to reform the national health sector and manage rising medical...

WHO-World Bank report highlights key challenges in health budget execution
A WHO-World Bank report highlights health budget execution challenges, revealing inefficiencies in spending. It calls for reforms to improve financial management and healthcare delivery for Universal Health Coverage. A new joint report by the World Health Organization...
Forecasting total and cause-specific health expenditures for 116 health conditions in Norway, 2022–2050
This study forecasts an increase in Norway's health spending from 10.6% of GDP in 2022 to 14.3% by 2050, driven primarily by population growth, aging, and rising costs per case. While the overall expenditure growth is inevitable, improving resource allocation and...
Budget execution in health : from bottlenecks to solutions (English)
The World Bank report Budget Execution in Health: From Bottlenecks to Solutions explores challenges in health budget execution and offers practical solutions for policymakers. It examines financial management trends, policy responses, and a structured approach to...
Factors influencing health care providers payment reforms in Central and Eastern European countries
A study in Inquiry: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing by Costase Ndayishimiye, Marzena Tambor, Katarzyna Dubas-Jakóbczyk, and colleagues explores factors influencing health care provider payment reforms in nine Central and Eastern...

Pharmaceutical manufacturers: between innovation and controlling healthcare costs
The government and the pharmaceutical industry have strengthened their partnership through the Comité économique des produits de santé and Les entreprises du médicament to combine competitiveness, access to innovation and cost containment as part of the Social...