Rethinking Health Care Financing

Health systems are defined as the organizations, institutions and resources whose actions promote health outcomes. Of the three key elements in the definition, institutions mean policies, rules and regulations governing the health care system. There are six pillars of health systems namely: health care service delivery; financing; stewardship (leadership and governance); human resource generation and retention; medical commodities, equipment and supplies; and health management information system. Health policy makers need to comprehensively embrace all the pillars if the policy is to be thorough.

This write up focuses on financing pillar. The three functions of health care finance are: resource mobilization, risk pooling and resource allocation. Specifically, concentration is on risk pooling.This article discusses financing of health care not health broadly.