The International Health News Briefing summarizes health policy news from selected countries. It is produced by The Commonwealth Fund's International Program in Health Policy and Innovation. Visit the
International Health Policy Center for more on the program's activities.
Germany
Germany's state health insurance system is continuing to realize record profits, posting a surplus of €2.7 billion in the first half of 2012. Federal health minister Daniel Bahr is urging all public insurers with big reserves to pay rebates to members. Read more »
United Kingdom
Jeremy Hunt, the former of secretary of state for culture, olympics, media, and sport, has replaced Andrew Lansley as health secretary in England. Read more »
General practitioner offices have begun signing up to participate in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, which will link National Health Service (NHS) patient records across general practitioners' offices, hospitals, and registries to give researchers access to data sets that follow patients throughout their lives. Read more »
National Health Service foundation trusts and the new clinical commission groups are now required to post online a list of all of the National Institute for Clinical Effectiveness–recommended drugs included in their formularies. Read more »
The U.K. Department of Health has made £1.5 million available for a potential rollout of the personal health budget program now being piloted across the country. Read more »
Mobile phone applications and other digital technologies are being increasingly adopted across the U.K. NHS joined in last spring by sponsoring NHS's "hack day," a contest in which doctors and developers competed together to create technology to improve health care. Read more »
Netherlands
The Dutch health minister has announced that health insurers will only pay for medicines that have a measurable effect on the patient. Read more »
Pharmacies in the Netherlands are expected to dispense €4.5 billion worth of drugs this year, down from €5 billion last year. Read more »
New Zealand
The New Zealand health minister, along with the ministers for education and social development, has launched a new action plan to support vulnerable children that includes improving immunization rates. Read more »
The New Zealand agency that manages the pharmaceutical budgets for local health boards will also begin managing hospital medical devices over the next few years. Read more »
Canada
A working group comprising all the Canadian provincial and territorial health ministers recently released a report detailing how the provinces and territories can work together to deliver better health outcomes more affordably. Read more »
Federal health minister Leona Aglukkaq recently defended the federal government's hands-off role in health care delivery, asserting that decision-making around health care is not a federal responsibility. Read more »
Australia
As part of the Australian government's $3.7 billion Living Longer Living Better long-term care reform package, Minister for Ageing Mark Butler announced $10.2 million in funding for 26 projects to better prepare the workforce that provides basic care to older Australians. Read more »
Under a landmark $4 billion dental health reform package, children and disadvantaged adults will have better access to government-funded dental care. Read more »
Several consumer-centered mental health initiatives were recently announced as part of the government's $2.2 billion mental health reform package. Read more »
The recent launch of the Australian Medicare Local Alliance, a new national body designed to lead the network of Medicare Locals, aims to provide Australians with more effective and cohesive primary care. Read more »
International Program in Health Policy and Innovation Updates