Should the U.S Health System "Go Dutch"?

Fish · 09-17-07, 07:49 AM

http://medinnovationblog.blogspot.co...-go-dutch.html

Summary

On Jan. 1, 2006, after 4 years in the making, the Netherlands, a nation with a population of 16.6 million, implemented a new health system requiring all individuals to buy or pay health premiums, private insurers to offer coverage regardless of pre-existing illness, premiums to be adjusted for risk, consumers to be made aware of costs, and not requiring employers to offer coverage. Since the plan’s inception, health inflation has ebbed from 4.5% to 3.0%, compared to a drop in the U.S. from 8.0% to 6.1% over the same period.

Will America “Go Dutch”? Not soon, in my opinion, because of the U.S.’s diversity, our regional differences, our partisanship, our size (land mass and population), our distrust of private health plans, and our preference for consumer and physician market competition. But the Dutch plan shows European governments can be innovative and aren’t averse to private competition.

09-17-07, 07:49 AM	#1
Fish Eternal Patrol Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Netherlands Posts: 1,923 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Should the U.S Health System "Go Dutch"? http://medinnovationblog.blogspot.co...-go-dutch.html Summary On Jan. 1, 2006, after 4 years in the making, the Netherlands, a nation with a population of 16.6 million, implemented a new health system requiring all individuals to buy or pay health premiums, private insurers to offer coverage regardless of pre-existing illness, premiums to be adjusted for risk, consumers to be made aware of costs, and not requiring employers to offer coverage. Since the plan’s inception, health inflation has ebbed from 4.5% to 3.0%, compared to a drop in the U.S. from 8.0% to 6.1% over the same period. Will America “Go Dutch”? Not soon, in my opinion, because of the U.S.’s diversity, our regional differences, our partisanship, our size (land mass and population), our distrust of private health plans, and our preference for consumer and physician market competition. But the Dutch plan shows European governments can be innovative and aren’t averse to private competition.