System that grants access to healthcare to all residents or citizens of a country or region
Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized around providing either all residents or only those who cannot afford on their own, with either health services or the means to acquire them, with the end goal of improving health outcomes.[1]
Universal healthcare does not imply coverage for all cases and for all people – only that all people have access to healthcare when and where needed without financial hardship. Some universal healthcare systems are government-funded, while others are based on a requirement that all citizens purchase private health insurance. Universal healthcare can be determined by three critical dimensions: who is covered, what services are covered, and how much of the cost is covered.[1] It is described by the World Health Organization as a situation where citizens can access health services without incurring financial hardship.[2] Then-Director General of the WHO Margaret Chan described universal health coverage as the "single most powerful concept that public health has to offer" since it unifies "services and delivers them in a comprehensive and integrated way".[3] One of the goals with universal healthcare is to create a system of protection which provides equality of opportunity for people to enjoy the highest possible level of health.[4] Critics say that universal healthcare leads to longer wait times and worse quality healthcare.[5]
As part of Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations member states have agreed to work toward worldwide universal health coverage by 2030.[6][better source needed] Therefore, the inclusion of the universal health coverage (UHC) within the SDGs targets can be related to the reiterated endorsements operated by the WHO.[7]
^ abWorld Health Organization (November 22, 2010). The world health report: health systems financing: the path to universal coverage. Geneva: World Health Organization. ISBN 978-92-4-156402-1. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
^"Universal health coverage (UHC)". Retrieved November 30, 2016.
^Matheson, Don * (January 1, 2015). "Will Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Lead to the Freedom to Lead Flourishing and Healthy Lives? Comment on "Inequities in the Freedom to Lead a Flourishing and Healthy Life: Issues for Healthy Public Policy"". International Journal of Health Policy and Management. 4 (1): 49–51. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2015.09. PMC 4289038. PMID 25584354.
^Abiiro, Gilbert Abotisem; De Allegri, Manuela (July 4, 2015). "Universal health coverage from multiple perspectives: a synthesis of conceptual literature and global debates". BMC International Health and Human Rights. 15: 17. doi:10.1186/s12914-015-0056-9. ISSN 1472-698X. PMC 4491257. PMID 26141806.
^Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Universal health coverage (UHC)". World Health Organization. December 12, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
^{{cite web Greco, S., Putans, R., & Springe, L. (2022). Antimicrobial and antibiotic resistance in developing countries: Health economics, global governance, and sustainable development goals. In Antimicrobial Resistance: Collaborative Measures of Control (pp. 113-140). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003313175}}
and 28 Related for: Universal health care information
Healthcare, or healthcare, is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and...
sound and socially acceptable methods and technology. This makes universalhealthcare accessible to all individuals and families in a community. PHC initiatives...
A health system, healthcare system or healthcare system is an organization of people, institutions, and resources that delivers healthcare services to...
healthcare goals. Many governments around the world have established universalhealthcare, which takes the burden of healthcare expenses off of private businesses...
National health insurance Public opinion on healthcare reform in the United States Single-payer healthcare Socialized medicine Social insurance Universal health...
care Single-payer health care Universalhealthcare Bump, Jesse B. (October 19, 2010). "The long road to universalhealth coverage. A century of lessons...
litigation. Its goal was to come up with a comprehensive plan to provide universalhealthcare for all Americans, which was to be a cornerstone of the administration's...
Indonesia has drastically improved its healthcare in the past decade. Government expenditure on healthcare was about 3.1% of its total gross domestic...
The Massachusetts healthcare reform, commonly referred to as Romneycare, was a healthcare reform law passed in 2006 and signed into law by Governor Mitt...
Spain operates a universalhealthcare system. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, total health spending accounted...
and mental health. Unlike the U.S., nations like Scandinavia, the U.K., Ireland, Japan and others have opted for a universalhealthcare system in which...
healthcare system is one of universalhealthcare largely financed by government national health insurance. In its 2000 assessment of world health care...
a mix of public and private health services. Turkey introduced universalhealthcare in 2003. Known as UniversalHealth Insurance Genel Sağlık Sigortası...
free. Hence the private healthcare plays a major role in providing specialist services which complements the universalhealthcare. Most insurance covers...
Healthcare in Australia operates under a shared public-private model underpinned by the Medicare system, the national single-payer funding model. State...
Examples of healthcare systems of the world, sorted by continent, are as follows. Following sources of fianncing of healthcare systems can be categorized:...
universalhealthcare, regulated by the Swiss Federal Law on Health Insurance. There are no free state-provided health services, but private health insurance...
publicly funded healthcare, informally called Medicare. It is guided by the provisions of the Canada Health Act of 1984, and is universal.: 81 The 2002...
universal multi-payer healthcare system paid for by a combination of statutory health insurance (Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung) and private health...
of public health systems, healthcare systems, hospitals, and hospital networks in all the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. Health systems management...
The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) was created in 1995 to implement universalhealth coverage in the Philippines. It is a tax-exempt...
remaining 70%. Payment for personal medical services is offered by a universalhealthcare insurance system that provides relative equality of access, with...
India has a multi-payer universalhealthcare model that is paid for by a combination of public and government regulated (through the Insurance Regulatory...
universalhealth coverage by 2011, and a May 28, 2009 announcement of universal coverage for pregnant women. In August 2012 Mexico achieved universal...
Global Information