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What Is National Health Care Insurance?

The term "national health insurance," sometimes referred to as "universal health insurance," refers to a plan in which the government of a particular nation provides insurance coverage to all of its residents. Many countries in Europe has a form of national health insurance. The United States, however, does not. Instead, residents of the United States are generally required to buy their insurance from private insurers. However, the U.S. government does provide insurance to some individuals.

  1. National Health Insurance

    • Under a national health insurance policy, every person is provided some form of health insurance by the government. This can work in one of two ways. First, the government can write the policies itself, with coverage provided according to government guidelines. Secondly, the government can help subsidize the purchase of health care from private insurers. Under this second option, the government does not issue policies but merely helps its residents to pay for them.

    Private Insurance System

    • The alternative to a national health insurance system is one in which individuals are required to purchase their own health insurance from health care providers. Individuals will make their own choices about who they purchase insurance from. Often, individuals will receive this insurance from their employer. This may allow people greater options in selecting their health care coverage, but it can also make health care prohibitively expense for some individuals and create inequalities in the medical care received.

    Medicare and Medicaid

    • While the U.S. does not offer health care insurance to all people, it does provide health insurance to select groups. Medicaid is a form of health insurance offered to individuals who have little or no income. Medicare is a form of health insurance provided to elderly people. These insurance policies are issued directly by the government and can be used at private health care facilities. These programs can be considered a form of national health insurance.

    Differences Between Government Health Care

    • National health insurance is often confused with national health care. Although the terms are used interchangeably, they are not the same thing. National health insurance provides health care insurance policies to individuals. These individual receive treatment at private care facilities. Under national health care, such as is used in Cuba, individuals are not provided insurance by the government but receive treatment in medical care facilities owned and operated by the government, not private facilities.

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