History
By 1941, New Zealand had created a near-universal health care system.[3] On July 5, 1948, the United Kingdom implemented its universal National Health Service. Universal health care was next introduced in the Nordic countries of Sweden (1955),[4] Iceland (1956),[5] Norway (1956),[6]Denmark (1961),[7] and Finland (1964).[8] Universal health insurance was then implemented in Japan (1961), Saskatchewan (1962) followed by the rest of Canada (1968–1972), and twice in Australia (1974 and 1984). Universal national health services were then introduced in the Southern European countries of Italy (1978), Portugal (1979), Greece (1983), and Spain (1986), followed by the Asian countries of South Korea (1989), Taiwan (1995), and Israel (1995). From the 1970s to 1990s, the Western European countries of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourgexpanded their social health insurance systems to provide universal or near-universal coverage, as did the Netherlands (1986 and 2006) and Switzerland (1996).
Most current universal health care systems were implemented in the period following the Second World War as a process of health care reform, intended to make health care available to all, in the spirit of Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, signed by every country doing so. However, the USA did not ratify the social and economic rights sections, including Article 25's right to health.[9]
Funding models
Universal health care in most countries has been achieved by a mixed model of funding. General taxation revenue is the primary source of funding, but in many countries it is supplemented by specific levies (which may be charged to the individual and/or an employer) or with the option of private payments (either direct or via optional insurance) for services beyond those covered by the public system.
Almost all European systems are financed through a mix of public and private contributions.[10] The majority of universal health care systems are funded primarily by tax revenue (e.g. Portugal[10] Spain, Denmark and Sweden). Some nations, such as Germany, France[11] and Japan[12]employ a multi-payer system in which health care is funded by private and public contributions. However, much of the non-government funding is by contributions by employers and employees to regulated non-profit sickness funds. These contributions are compulsory and defined according to law....