Universal healthcare without the NHS : towards a patient centred health system

The British National Health Service Remains The Sacred Cow Of British Politics - Any Criticism Is Considered Beyond The Pale, Guaranteed To Trigger Angry Responses And Accusations Of Bad Faith. This Book Argues That The Nhs Should Not Be Insulated From Reasoned Debate. In Terms Of Health Outcomes, It Is One Of The Worst Systems In The Developed World, Well Behind Those Of Other High-income Countries. The Nhs Does Achieve Universal Access To Healthcare, But So Do The Health Systems In Every Other Developed Country (with The Exception Of The Us). Britain Is Far From Being The Only Country Where Access To Healthcare Does Not Depend On An Individual's Ability To Pay. Author Kristian Niemietz Draws On A Wealth Of International Evidence To Develop A Vision For A Universal Healthcare System Based On Consumer Sovereignty, Freedom Of Choice, Competition And Pluralism. His Roadmap For Reform Charts A Path From The Status Quo To A More Desirable And Effective Alternative -- By Kristian Niemietz. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 141-151). 1 An alternative history: what Britain would havebeen like without the NHS In a universe not far from our own 1 Back to reality 17 2 Who should envy whom? NHS performance from an international perspective 26 Cancer 27 Stroke 32 Amenable mortality 33 Waiting times 35 The Commonwealth Fund study 38 Spending and efficiency 45 Robustness to demographic challenges 51 Choice and accountability 54 Conclusion 59 3 A quarter century of NHS reforms: what worked, what failed 62 The internal market of the 1990s 64 The period of ‘ultra-managerialism’ 68 The quasi-market reforms of the 2000s 71 Recent reforms 85 Conclusion 87 4 Other games in town 90 The NHS debate: insular and inward-looking 90 How social health insurance systems work 94 Notable features of the Dutch system 101 Notable features of the Swiss system 107 Notable features of the German system 112 Notable features of the Israeli system 115 Conclusion 117 5 Towards a pluralistic, sustainable healthcare system: a strategy for an orderly transition 119 The quasi-market: finishing the job 119 Free entry and exit 122 Free choice of Clinical Commissioning Group 125 The freedom to opt out of NHS commissioning 128 Vertical and horizontal integration 130 Freedom of choice over the depth and scope of coverage 131 Prefunding healthcare costs 134 Selective contracting 136 Conclusion 137 References 141 About the IEA 152 "The British National Health Service remains the sacred cow of British politics - any criticism is considered beyond the pale, guaranteed to trigger angry responses and accusations of bad faith. This book argues that the NHS should not be insulated from reasoned debate. In terms of health outcomes, it is one of the worst systems in the developed world, well behind those of other high-income countries. The NHS does achieve universal access to healthcare, but so do the health systems in every other developed country (with the exception of the US). Britain is far from being the only country where access to healthcare does not depend on an individual's ability to pay. Author Kristian Niemietz draws on a wealth of international evidence to develop a vision for a universal healthcare system based on consumer sovereignty, freedom of choice, competition and pluralism. His roadmap for reform charts a path from the status quo to a more desirable and effective alternative"-- Provided by publisher "The British National Health Service remains the sacred cow of British politics - any criticism is considered beyond the pale, guaranteed to trigger angry responses and accusations of bad faith. This book argues that the NHS should not be insulated from reasoned debate. In terms of health outcomes, it is one of the worst systems in the developed world, well behind those of other high-income countries. The NHS does achieve universal access to healthcare, but so do the health systems in every other developed country (with the exception of the US). Britain is far from being the only country where access to healthcare does not depend on an individual's ability to pay. Author Kristian Niemietz draws on a wealth of international evidence to develop a vision for a universal healthcare system based on consumer sovereignty, freedom of choice, competition and pluralism. His roadmap for reform charts a path from the status quo to a more desirable and effective alternative"-- Résumé de l'éditeur The book draws on a wealth of international evidence to develop a vision for a new and better universal healthcare system for the UK based on consumer sovereignty, freedom of choice, competition and pluralism.