This paper provides an overview of research on out-of-pocket health expenditures, reviewing the various summary measures and the results of multi-country studies using these measures. The paper presents estimates for 146 countries from all World Bank income groups for all summary measures, along...

This paper uses the roll-out of the national health insurance in Ghana to assess the cushioning effect of coverage on the financial consequences of health shocks and resulting changes in coping behaviors. The analysis finds a strong reduction in medical expenditures, preventing households from...

As Lao PDR prepares to graduate from Least Developed Country (LDC) status by 2020 to become an upper-middle-income country by 2030, it also expects to face declining funding from external sources and the need to increase domestic financing for health. This report aims to provide a snapshot of...

This chapter describes and seeks to take stock of a cluster of supply-side reforms that aimed to revitalize what was described by the Croatian Public Health Institute as a passive and low-impact primary care system. The cluster of reforms, which include a mix of organizational, primary care...

The United Kingdom has in many respects the archetypal centrally planned, publicly financed health care system in the form of National Health Service (NHS), established in 1948 in a time of great austerity after Second World War. It is largely funded from general taxation, and provides wide...