German Health Care Overhaul Offers Lessons for Policymakers in California Reform Debate

In a California Healthline Special Report, German Health Minister Ulla Schmidt explained how a recent overhaul of the German health care system could provide lessons for stakeholders in California’s ongoing health care reform debate.

Germany this year launched a new universal coverage initiative that pools all health care contributions and redistributes funds to health plans based on financial risk. As in the California debate, German policymakers struggled to balance market forces, quality and access to health care.

The Special Report also includes comments from:

Mark Smith, CEO of the California HealthCare Foundation; and
Hanh Quach, a health policy coordinator for Health Access California (Rebillot, California Healthline, 8/6).

CHCF is the publisher of California Healthline.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>German Health Care Overhaul Offers Lessons for Policymakers in California Reform Debate</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2007-08-06T00:00:00-07:00">
			August 6, 2007		</time>
		</div>
<p>In a California Healthline Special Report, German Health Minister Ulla Schmidt explained how a recent overhaul of the German health care system could provide lessons for stakeholders in California’s ongoing health care reform debate. </p><p>Germany this year launched a new universal coverage initiative that pools all health care contributions and redistributes funds to health plans based on financial risk. As in the California debate, German policymakers struggled to balance market forces, quality and access to health care. </p><p>The Special Report also includes comments from:</p><ul><li>Mark Smith, CEO of the California HealthCare Foundation; and</li><li>Hanh Quach, a health policy coordinator for Health Access California (Rebillot, California Healthline, 8/6).</li></ul><p>CHCF is the publisher of California Healthline.</p><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p><img src="https://ssl.google-analytics.com/collect?v=1&t=event&ec=Republish&tid=UA-72777370-1&z=1713614452283&cid=ca204102-fc6c-4edb-94cc-6189dd02ec8e&ea=https%3A%2F%2Fcaliforniahealthline.org%2Fnews%2Fgerman-health-care-overhaul-offers-lessons-for-policymakers-in-california-reform-debate%2F&el=German%20Health%20Care%20Overhaul%20Offers%20Lessons%20for%20Policymakers%20in%20California%20Reform%20Debate"/>

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