Int J Health Serv
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The early 2020 response to COVID-19 revealed major gaps in public health systems around the world as many were overwhelmed by a quickly-spreading new coronavirus. While the critical task at hand is turning the tide on COVID-19, this pandemic serves as a clarion call to governments and citizens alike to ensure public health systems are better prepared to meet the emergencies of the future, many of which will be climate-related. ⋯ COVID-19 has demonstrated how essential public health is to well-functioning human societies and how high the economic cost of an unprepared health system can be. This pandemic provides valuable early warnings, with lessons for building public health resilience.
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This article analyzes critically the most recent scientific bibliography on the causes of the growth of mortality and morbidity in the white working class of the United States. The methodology used in these studies, and also the insufficient conceptualization of the variables used (such as social class), limits the understanding of the increment of the "diseases of despair" in that sector of the population. This article emphasizes the need to analyze the evolution of the social classes in the United States, and the political determinants that have changed not only the character and composition of that class, but also the power differentials between this class and other classes in the United States.
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The period of sustained financial austerity since 2009 has led to a shift in competition policy within the English National Health Service. Policymakers have directed their attention away from the preexisting priority to support quicker access to routine and planned hospital care and have focused instead on improving emergency, cancer, and general practitioner services. ⋯ In addition, previous policy initiatives to engage the leadership of general practitioners in planning services have been revisited. The overall effect has been to shift emphasis away from competitive markets and back toward a planning approach.
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This article explores Cuba's health assistance and support for other countries. It explores the rationale and motivations for Cuba's internationalism in health. ⋯ It also explores potential adverse consequences and criticisms of Cuba's approach. The article concludes by noting that Cuba has been ahead of the game in integrating foreign policy and health policy and that its experience may hold lessons for other countries seeking to develop global health strategies.
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Described as "universal prepayment," the national health insurance (or single-payer) model of universal health coverage is increasingly promoted by international actors as a means of raising revenue for health care and improving social risk protection in low- and middle-income countries. Likewise, in the United States, the recent failed efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act have renewed debate about where to go next with health reform and arguably opened the door for a single-payer, Medicare-for-All plan, an alternative once considered politically infeasible. ⋯ Using available cross-national data, we categorize countries with universal coverage into those best exemplifying national health insurance (single-payer), national health service, and social health insurance models and compare them to the United States in terms of cost, access, and quality. Through this comparison, we find that many critiques of single-payer are based on misconceptions or are factually incorrect, but also that single-payer is not the only option for achieving universal coverage in the United States and internationally.