ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the follows of trends and reforms in selected health insurance systems in various regions and reviews innovations in both health care benefits and cash sickness allowances in the systems. The International Social Security Association intends, with this publication, a deeper exchange of experience between differing regions, countries, and health insurance systems, thus providing ideas for politicians and practitioners, scientists, and other experts. Some countries, such as Benin, Guinea, Cameroon, and Nigeria, which have not carried out any fundamental reform of their health insurance systems, have been concentrating on basic medical care and achieving local improvements in quality. In these countries, currently only the formal salaried sector workers are covered. As a result of the Act on the extension of the obligation for employers to continue wage payments in case of sickness, the Dutch health insurance scheme for insured persons engaged in regular employment has been "privatized."
