Loyola University Chicago is home to a strong and vibrant Health Law program, and the most recent symposium sponsored by the Annals of Health Law examined comparative universal coverage efforts and expanding access to care. The goal of the symposium was to examine existing universal health systems and ongoing efforts to expand access in the United States.
The symposium began by looking at existing universal health systems while addressing global perspectives on a right to health care, followed by Netherlands and an explanation of their health reform practices and universal coverage. Octavio Gomez-Dantes discussed Mexico’s Seguro Popular and law professor Christina Ho addressed the successes, failures, and lessons of China’s recent health reform.
Professor John Jacobi of Seton Hall University Law School started off the program and discussed the human right to health and the right to healthcare and its meaning in international constitutions. Following this discussion, Professor Edith Loozen from Erasmus University Rotterdam introduced us to health reform and universal coverage in Netherlands. In Netherlands, healthcare policy is developed by the national government. Since 2006 the Netherlands has had universal mandatory private health insurance. The Netherlands has implemented gradual reforms aimed at regulating competition. They have provided insurers with incentives and tools. Likewise, Mexico’s Seguro Popular has turned healthcare into a social right with access based on citizenship. Initially they were able to provide comprehensive health care with financial protections to those who had a relationship with an employer. Since then they have now achieved universal coverage for all Mexican citizens. China on the other hand has a four part coverage system that was rolled out in the mid-2000s first with rural residents and then with urban residents. The program provided basic medical insurance only for urban residents who were not employed.
The second half of the program looked at domestic attempts at universal coverage and focused on the states of Washington, New Mexico, Vermont, and Maryland. Washington is one of the few states to pass health care reform and did so back in 1993 with the Washington Health Services Act. Dede Feldman, State Senator from New Mexico described the state as an early adopter when it came to programmatic enactment similar to the Affordable Care Act. She emphasized that though New Mexico is a poor state they have also been a resourceful state. Concluding the program, Vermont discussed what it means to have state level health reform after the Affordable Care Act. The state first focused on expansion as a first step with 98% of all children currently covered. They also focused on promotion of generic drugs and care coordination to try to reduce costs of residents. What they learned is that sustainable health reform requires a comprehensive approach.
-Shana Scott, 2L
