Washington, D.C. March 18, 2010
—Addressing the health challenge in low- and middle-income countries has become a major goal for the international development community. Rich or poor, countries around the globe are struggling to find a way to pay for health care. A new World Bank Group book,
“Global Marketplace for Private Health Insurance: Strength in Numbers,”
by Alexander Preker, Peter Zweifel, and Onno Schellekens shows that private health insurance can play a critical role in providing more affordable access to health care for more people despite their economic status.
Donors have spent billions of dollars trying to help countries jumpstart the slow development path but much of this money is at risk of being wasted in supporting unsustainable health systems. Global health spending in 2006 was around $3.5 trillion, equivalent to about 10 percent of global gross domestic product. Twelve percent or about $380 billion of those resources was spent in low- and middle-income countries. If current spending patterns are maintained, developing countries will face annual increases of between 2 and 3 percent in health care expenditure needs.
In a foreword to the book, IFC Executive Vice President and CEO, Lars Thunell, and the Netherlands Minister for Development, Bert Koenders, write that the development challenges of addressing health problems are daunting but not insurmountable. There is tremendous opportunity to leverage existing public sector engagement with additional private resources. As demonstrated in the book, private voluntary health insurance already plays an important and growing role.
Three major development objectives of health insurance in low- and middle-income countries are highlighted: securing sustainable financing for health care providers that serve the needs of vulnerable populations, providing financial protection against the impoverishing cost of illness, and reducing social exclusion from organized health financing and delivery systems.
IFC Director for Health and Education, Guy Ellena, said, “Private health insurance schemes can address the needs of the poor and other vulnerable populations with appropriate combinations of subsidies, risk pooling, household savings, and user charges.”
The authors of the book argue in favor of a
multipillar
approach to health care financing in low- and middle-income countries that combines these instruments in addressing underlying development objectives, while putting a strong emphasis on private voluntary health insurance. To order this book, please contact the World Bank Bookstore:
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $15 billion in fiscal 2009, helping channel capital into developing countries during the financial crisis. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
