Health Care Reform in France - The Birth of State-Led Managed Care

The World Health Organization recently ranked the French health care system the best in the world.1 Although the methods and data on which this assessment was based have been criticized, there are good grounds for being impressed by the French system. Yet in August 2004, with the national health insurance (NHI) system facing a severe financial crisis, France enacted Minister of Health Philippe Douste-Blazy's reform plan. Like previous efforts at health care reform, this one seeks to preserve a system of comprehensive benefits, which is supported by the major stakeholders.