Obligatory medical insurance in Russia: the participants' perspective.

The Russian Federation adopted a nation-wide system of obligatory medical insurance in 1993 in an effort to earmark a targeted source of funding for health care and to reverse a steep decline in health outcomes. The author conducted a survey in 1995-1996 of managers of two of the new institutional participants in Russia's health insurance scheme: Territorial Health Insurance Funds and private medical insurance companies. The survey results reveal deep dissatisfaction with the level of financing provided by the new system; continuing confusion and substantial regional variation in the implementation of the insurance legislation; fierce bureaucratic and institutional infighting between the major players, stemming primarily from controversy over delineation of responsibilities and ongoing battles for control over resources; promising hints of competition and other market-based incentives emerging from the current chaos; and broad agreement that further structural reform must accompany increased infusions of resources in order for significant systemic improvements to be realized.

Regional variation in Russian medical insurance: lessons from Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod.

The implementation of Russia's 1993 legislation on obligatory medical insurance has been characterized by wide regional variation. Two areas in particular illustrate this phenomenon: for the last five years Moscow has enjoyed a sophisticated, well-developed insurance system, while the Nizhny Novgorod region has only recently taken the most rudimentary steps toward implementation of the law. Despite their radically differing approaches to the market-based insurance reforms, however, Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod continue to enjoy roughly the same quality of available health care services, at similar costs to consumers. They also suffer some of the same continued systemic defects inherited from the Soviet era. A comparison of the two regions demonstrates that, while reform of the Soviet health care system was desperately needed, the Russian version of obligatory medical insurance has not proved to be the panacea its architects intended. In fact, even its original pioneers are now moving forward with new schemes to correct some of its deficiencies.

From assurance to insurance in Russian health care: the problematic transition.

OBJECTIVES: Given the declining health status of the Russian population and the negative social impact of ongoing economic reforms, it is important to understand the nature and scope of Russia's innovations in health care financing. METHODS: Data on Russian health care and its financing were gathered from Russian newspapers and journals. US government agency reports, recent press accounts, and the authors' observations and interviews in Russia. RESULTS: The 1991 statutory basis for the Russian mandatory medical insurance system replaced the traditional, state-funded medical care system with a regional system principally reliant on an enterprise-based with-holding tax plus supplementation by local government and, to a minor extent, federal funds. The regional agent for distribution and management of these funds is a series of Territorial Health Insurance Funds. Implementation thus far has been highly uneven among territories. CONCLUSIONS: An insurance model patterned after the Western example may not be the optimal solution to Russia's current health financing problems. Given the chaotic nature of political and economic reform, Russia may simply not be ready for market-based medical insurance.