USA: Swiss And Dutch Health Care Systems Attract U.S. Attention

WASHINGTON (The International Herald Tribune), October 30, 2007: The Swiss and Dutch health care systems are suddenly all the rage in the United States. They have features similar to proposals by at least two presidential hopefuls, and next month the top U.S. health official will visit Switzerland and the Netherlands to take a look. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt will visit Switzerland on November 7 and then fly to The Hague for two days. His schedule is filled with meetings with ministers and technocrats, hospital officials and insurance executives and patients and their advocates. His visit was scheduled, department officials said, because policy experts in Washington have promoted Swiss and Dutch provisions as models. In Switzerland and the Netherlands, everyone has to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty. Employers are exempt from the mandates, and private insurers and hospitals provide care. By Gardiner Harris The International Herald Tribune