In less than a decade, China transformed its inadequate, unjust health care system in order to provide basic universal health coverage (UHC) for its people. What forces made it possible for China to achieve this? What kind of transformation took place? What are the impacts of these policy...

One of the most urgent and vexing problem around the world is how to finance and provide health care for the more than two billion peasants and ghetto dwellers in low- and middle-income countries. Part I of this paper develops a conceptual framework for community financing and uses it to clarify...

Good health is necessary for well-being but also has another critical impact: it causes poverty, in that large health expenditures can bankrupt families. Many nations are now hoping that formally mandated social health insurance (SHI), involving payroll taxes, will provide a solution. This...

This paper provides a survey of the recent empirical research on China's old health system (i.e. prior to the spate of reforms beginning in 2003). It argues that this research has enhanced our understanding of the system prior to 2003, in some cases reinforcing conclusions (e.g., the...

This paper provides a survey of the recent empirical research on China's ‘old’ health system (i.e. prior to the spate of reforms beginning in 2003). It argues that this research has enhanced our understanding of the system prior to 2003, in some cases reinforcing conclusions (e.g. the...

Despite widespread efforts to expand health insurance in developing countries, there is scant evidence as to whether doing so actually improves people's health. This paper aims to fill this gap by evaluating the impact of Rural Mutual Health Care (RMHC), a community-based health insurance...