Paying for Health: Learning from International Experience in Health Financing (European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies)

Health care financing is key in defining interactions between providers and the general population. It determines who is required to pay for care, how much they pay, and what types of services patients can receive. It also helps shape markets for health service providers and innovations in service delivery, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Paying for Health brings together insights from over 50 global experts to provide a vital analysis of health care financing around the world, explaining issues related to funding both health and social care. It explores key aspects of health financing, delving into critical policy questions and examining strategies that shape sustainable, effective health systems. Offering real-world examples and evidence-based insights, this essential volume equips policymakers, researchers, and health leaders with the tools to design financing systems that drive progress now and in the future towards universal health coverage. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Jonathan Cylus is the head of the London Hubs of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies based at the LSE and LSHTM, and Senior Health Economist in the WHO Barcelona Office for Health Systems Financing. His research focuses on health systems, particularly health financing policy, health economics, and health system performance. He has worked across Europe and beyond and with the European Commission, OECD, and WHO. Prior to joining the Observatory, Jonathan was an economist at CMS in the US. Jonathan holds a BA from Johns Hopkins and an MSc and PhD from LSE.

Rebecca Forman is a Technical Officer at the European Observatory's London hub. Her work focuses on health financing, priority-setting, and health systems and policies. She has held previous roles at LSE Health and the Center for Global Development and has consulted for and worked with organizations including the World Bank, WHO, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and more. Rebecca also is an Editorial Board Member of the journal, Health Policy. Rebecca holds a BA from Brown University and a joint MSc from the LSE and LSHTM.

Nathan Shuftan is a Research Fellow at the Berlin University of Technology, the Berlin hub of the European Observatory. He focuses on European health system and policy developments through projects like the State of Health in the EU, the Health Systems and Transition (HiT) series and policy.

Elias Mossialos is the Cheng Yu Tung Chair in Global Health and Director of LSE Health. With over 300 publications in top journals in the public policy, health policy, economics and political science fields, his primary research focus revolves around health systems and policy, with a particular emphasis on issues related to healthcare financing, accessibility, pharmaceutical policies, and cancer care and policy. He co-founded the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, has served in Greece as a Member of Parliament and as Minister of State, advised global organizations, and he currently holds the position of senior fellow to the Ministry of health in Singapore. Professor Mossialos has received numerous awards, including the 2010 Andrija Stampar Medal, the 2021 Choice Award by the ACRL, the 2022 Helen-Clark-JoPPP Award and more.

Peter C. Smith is Emeritus Professor of Health Policy at Imperial College and Emeritus Professor of Health Economics at the University of York. A mathematics graduate from Oxford, he started his academic career at the University of Cambridge and was Director of the Centre for Health Economics at York. At Imperial, he co-directed the Centre for Health Policy. His research focused on public service performance, particularly health care, publishing over 180 journal papers and 14 books. His recent work addressed global health, universal health coverage, and the economy-health system link. Peter has held numerous UK advisory roles and advised international organizations like WHO, IMF, and the World Bank.