The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #73773

Victor G. Rodwin, PhD, Wagner School of Public Service, New York University, 4 Washington Sq. North, New York, NY 10003, 212-998-7459, Victor.rodwin@nyu.edu

Learning Objectives:

• The French health system combines universal coverage with a public-private mix of hospital and ambulatory care and a higher volume of service provision than in the United States. Although the system is far from perfect, its indicators of health status and comsumer satisfaction are high; its expenditures, as a share of gross domestic product, are far lower than in the United States; and patients have an extraordinary degree of choice amongh providers.
• Lessons from the United States include the importance of government's role in providing a statutory framework for universal health insurance; recognition that piecemeal reform can broaden a partial program (like Medicare) to cover, eventually, the entire population; and understanding that universal coverage can be achieved without excluding private insurers from the supplementary insurance market.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.