Examining the changing nature of health care federalism within a competitive global context, Comparative Health Care Federalism provides a rich and nuanced account of the way in which the interplay of federal relationships impact health care within an array of systems. The editors have gathered together some of the leading international health policy scholars to provide detailed accounts of the dynamics of federal health policy-making within their respective jurisdictions. Complementing the theoretical and methodological objectives, this book provides a detailed, empirical description of the challenges faced by different states and the ways in which health policy-making works within the federal, quasi-federal, and functional federal systems presented. In chapters on the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, the United Kingdom, the EU, India, China, Brazil, and the Russian Federation the authors consider what variables contribute to, and stand in the way of, the formation of robust and sustainable health care systems.

An examination of whether federal institutions influence policy outcomes in the health sector.

Looking at Canada, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa and Switzerland, Federalism and Decentralization in Health Care examines the overall organization of the health system.

This comprehensive scholarly book on comparative federalism and the Covid-19 pandemic is written by some of the world’s leading federal scholars and national experts. The Covid-19 pandemic presented an unprecedented emergency for countries worldwide, including all those with a federal or hybrid-federal system of government, which account for more than 40 per cent of the world’s population. With case studies from 19 federal countries, this book explores the core elements of federalism that came to the fore in combatting the pandemic: the division of responsibilities (disaster management, health care, social welfare, and education), the need for centralisation, and intergovernmental relations and cooperation. As the pandemic struck federal countries at roughly the same time, it provided a unique opportunity for comparative research on the question of how the various federal systems responded. The authors adopt a multidisciplinary approach to question whether federalism has been a help or a hindrance in tackling the pandemic. The value of the book lies in understanding how the Covid-19 pandemic affected federal dynamics and how it may have changed them, as well as providing useful lessons for how to combat such pandemics in federal countries in the future. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of politics and international relations, comparative federalism, health care, and disaster management. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

The standard classifications of health systems don't allow for the complexity and variety that exists around the world. Federico Toth sets out a new framework for understanding the many ways in which health systems can be organized and systematically analyses the health systems chosen by 27 OECD countries. He provides a great deal of up-to-date data on financing models, healthcare spending, insurance coverage, methods of organizing providers, healthcare personnel, remuneration methods for doctors and hospitals, development trajectories and recent reforms. For each of the major components of the healthcare system, the organizational models and the possible variants from which individual countries can ideally select are defined. Then, based on the organizational solutions actually adopted, the various national systems are grouped into homogeneous families. With its clear, jargon-free language and concrete examples, this is the most accessible comparative study of international healthcare arrangements available.