Democratizing health care
Subtitle: welfare state building in Korea and Thailand
By: by Illan Nam
Series: Asia today
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2015
Place of publication: New York, NY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 273
ISBN-13: 9781137537119
Subjects: Health insurance; Medical policy; Health care reform; Welfare state
Description: "Addresses the rise of the welfare state in Asia in the context of milestone health insurance reforms that took place in Korea and Thailand. These reforms, which accomplished universal health coverage in Thailand and a single-payer fund in Korea, established greater equity in access and redistribution in health care, an outcome that defied patterns of retrenchment prevailing in other parts of the world. The intent of this book is to provide a better understanding of the emergence of new progressive welfare actors that introduced citizens' rights to equitable health care into the political discourse, mobilized voter support, and pressured politicians to legislate policy change. Nam argues that, in contrast to the traditional welfare actors prominent in the Western experience of welfare state building, Thai and Korean welfare champions were characterized by unique organizational features and were deeply informed by their experiences as activists in their countries' democracy movements. Through an analysis of these two cases, the book illustrates the impact of democracy movements upon producing new democratic actors"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : health reforms in two third-wave democracies; title: Variations in health reforms : the Thai and Korean health systems in comparative perspective; title: Solidarity coalitions : mobilizing know-how, networks, knowledge, and beliefs in developing democracies; title: The crucible of democracy movements : forging political actors; title: Partners for solidarity : citizens' organizations and labor in South Korea; title: Allying for a big bang reform : rebel bureaucrats and NGOs in Thailand; title: Conclusion : experts and activists in policymaking.