Health insurance and health policy, American and Japanese style: lessons of comparative experience

This paper considers how American and Japanese policymakers might learn from

their mutual experience with health insurance and health policy. Each country views itself as a

health care leader in their respective areas of strength. Each country is characterized by

distinctive patterns of health care organization and financing. Yet, policy analysts on both sides

are intrigued and often envious of the other’s success. Americans can learn from the central

regulation of Japanese national health insurance and from Japan’s stellar health status and its

recent political commitment to long-term care. The Japanese can learn from the active role of

payers and other organizations in the United States in controlling volume, assuring quality of

care, and designing alternative health care delivery systems.