The Health Insurance Reform in the Netherlands and its Relevance for Mexico (original) (raw)

2011, Well-being and Social Policy, vol. 7 (1), p. 1-22

Two main versions of the organization of health insurance are observed throughout the world: employment-based social security, and a national health service. Latin-America often uses the former, but remains far from universal coverage. A rather peculiar mix of public obligations with private responsibilities is found in the Netherlands. Universal coverage is achieved through a mandatory health insurance carried out by privately organized competing insurers. Competition among insurers attracting consumers and contracting care providers should guarantee low prices and high quality. After five years of experience, discussion about the achievements continues, but nobody proposes a return to the pre-2006 system. The apparent success in the Netherlands does not imply that a similar system can be introduced right-away in Mexico, because most of the preconditions are not satisfied yet. Nevertheless, several useful observations can be made.