What is the role of private health insurance in OECD countries?
In the United States, the Netherlands and Germany, private health insurance is a source of primary coverage for population groups without access to public health cover. Under the US system, in which public coverage through Medicare and Medicaid is restricted to the elderly, disabled and certain poor groups, 72% of the population has some form of private health insurance. In the Netherlands, nearly a third of the population — those in the upper-income bracket — is excluded from publicly funded insurance; almost all of those excluded buy private primary coverage. Germany, on the other hand, is the only OECD country allowing individuals above an income threshold to opt out of social health insurance. In Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, where privately funded providers operate in parallel to the public delivery system, private health insurance duplicates existing public universal coverage, offering a private alternative. Nearly half of the Australian and Irish popula
