Health Affairs Web First articles look at health care across many countries

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Health Affairs
Health Affairs Web First articles look at health care across many countries Bethesda, MD – Shanghai's health care reforms as well as the findings of an eleven-country health care survey are published as Web First articles on Health Affairs' web site in November.

Shanghai's Health Care Reforms Explained. "I think health reform is not like what some say—a matter of two, three, or four years of efforts, and you get a brand-new health system. So I do not look for one-shot earthshaking effects. Instead, I focus on whether the policies we put in place will be sustainable," says former Shanghai Vice Mayor Shen Xiaoming in an interview released November 6, 2013 as a Web First by Health Affairs. Shanghai, China's largest city, offers its residents the country's most advanced health care system. Through a powerful health information technology system, there have been great strides—though challenges remain. Shen, who served as vice mayor from January 2008 through July 2013, spoke to author Tsung-Mei Cheng in Shanghai on June 18, 2013. The study will also appear in the December issue of Health Affairs.

Explaining Shanghai's Health Care Reforms, Successes, And Challenges
By Tsung-Mei Cheng

Eleven-Country Survey Finds US Insurance Most Complex. A new survey of eleven different countries' health care, released November 13, 2013 as a Web First by Health Affairs, found that US adults were significantly more likely than their counterparts in other countries to forgo care because of cost, to have difficulty paying for care even when insured, and to encounter time-consuming insurance complexity. The study surveyed the general populations of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. For more than ten years, the authors have conducted similar comparisons of the US health system with other industrialized nations. The study will also appear in the December issue of Health Affairs.

Access, Affordability, And Insurance Complexity Are Often Worse In The United States Compared To Ten Other Countries
By Cathy Schoen, Robin Osborn, David Squires, and Michelle M. Doty

### ABOUT HEALTH AFFAIRS Health Affairs is the leading journal at the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Published by Project HOPE, the peer-reviewed journal appears each month in print, with additional Web First papers published periodically at http://www.healthaffairs.org. The full text of each Health Affairs Web First paper is available free of charge to all website visitors for a one-week period following posting, after which it switches to pay-per-view for nonsubscribers. Web First papers are supported in part by a grant from The Commonwealth Fund. You can also find the journal on Facebook and Twitter. Read daily perspectives on END