The Way Forward: A Look at Liberalization of LDC Health Insurance Markets

This article explores the historical and contemporary problem of health care provision with a focus on the least developed countries (LDCs) and heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs). The paper concludes that, while there may be advantages to state‐run insurance systems for vulnerable populations (e.g. the indigent or the widowed elderly), there is likely a space for fee‐for‐service and pay‐per‐premium health care to develop alongside other familiar western institutions, like retail banking and telecommunications services. This discussion of financial evolution concludes with a comparison to postwar Japan and other contexts in which complex, locally unprecedented payment systems have been quick to take root and have been very successful. The governments of LDCs must move away from NGO‐style and free clinic healthcare service provision and transition people to market‐rate health insurance policies and fee‐for‐service clinics.