Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Towards Universal Health Care in Emerging Economies pp 61–88Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Universalism and Health: The Battle of Ideas

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Social Policy in a Development Context ((SPDC))

Abstract

In this chapter, MacGregor contextualizes the issue of universal health coverage. She summarizes moves towards the adoption of universal health coverage as a goal of international policy. Arguments for universal health coverage are reviewed, noting references to human rights, social justice, security and social integration. Competing ideas are considered—universalism versus selectivism, welfare state versus neoliberalism and social investment. The chapter looks at the political mobilization of ideas in high-income and middle-income countries. Issues of implementation, variations in financing mechanisms and state capacity are noted. The conclusion is that politics matters—even more so as new challenges appear.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Clarke (2004), Marmot and Wilkinson (2005), Mooney (2012), Navarro (2008), Sandel (2012).

  2. 2.

    Le Grand and Bartlett (1993), Le Grand (1997), Le Grand (2006).

  3. 3.

    For example, see Osborne and Gaebler (1992), Seldon (2007).

  4. 4.

    WHO (2000), Gröne and Garcia-Barbero (2001), McLaren and Hawe (2005).

Bibliography

  • Abel-Smith, B., and K. Titmuss (eds.). 1987. The philosophy of welfare: Selected writings of Richard M Titmuss. London: Allen and Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J.G. 2012. Universalization and de-universalization of unemployment protection in Denmark and Sweden. In Welfare state, universalism and diversity, ed. A. Anttonen, L. Haikio, and K. Stefansson, 162–186. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, I., and S. Ytrehus. 2012. Reconceptualising approaches to meeting the health needs of homeless people. Journal of Social Policy 41: 551–568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antonnen, Anneli, L. Haikio, and K. Stefansson (eds.). 2012. Welfare state, universalism and diversity. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atun, R., L. Odorico Monteiro de Andrade, G. Almeida, D. Cotlear, T. Dmytraczenko, P. Frenz, P. Garcia, O. Gómez-Dantés, F.M. Knaul, C. Muntaner, J. Braga de Paula, F. Rígoli, P. Castell-Florit Serrate, and A. Wagstaff. 2015. Health system reform and universal health coverage in Latin America. The Lancet 385(9974): 1230–1247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balabanova, D., M. McKee, and A. Mills (eds.). 2011. Good health at low cost: What makes a successful health system? London: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, T., and A. Whiteside. 2002. AIDS in the twenty first century: Disease and globalization. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bauman, Zygmunt. 1998. Work, consumerism and the new poor. Philadelphia: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blank, R.H., and V. Burau. 2004. Comparative health policy. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buxton, J. 2014. Social policy in Venezuela – Bucking neoliberalism or unsustainable clientelism? UNRISD project on towards universal social security in emerging economies: Process, institutions and actors. Geneva: UNRISD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, J. 2004. Dissolving the public realm? The logics and limits of neoliberalism. Journal of Social Policy 33: 27–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, J., and J. Newman. 2012. Brave new world? Anglo-American challenges to universalism. In Welfare state, universalism and diversity, ed. A. Anttonen, L. Haikio, and K. Stefansson, 90–105. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deacon, B. 2000. Globalization and social policy: The threat to equitable welfare. Geneva: UNRISD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doyal, L., and I. Gough. 1991. A theory of human need. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Etienne, C.F. 2015. Achieving universal health coverage is a moral imperative. The Lancet 385(9975): 1271–1273.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, R.G., M. Barer, and G. Stoddart. 1993. User charges snares and delusions: Another look at the literature. Toronto: Ontario Premier’s Council on Health Wellbeing and Social Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farmer, P. 2015. Who lives and who dies: The iniquities of healthcare funding. London Review of Books 17–20. www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n03/paul-farmer/who-lives-and-who-dies. Accessed 23 Mar 2016.

  • Fine, B. 2001. Social capital versus social theory: Political economy and social science at the turn of the millennium. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Freudenberg, N. 2014. Lethal but legal: Corporations, consumption and protecting public health. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldenberg, M.J. 2006. On evidence and evidence-based medicine: Lessons from the philosophy of science. Social Science and Medicine 62: 2621–2632.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gough, I. 2000. Globalization and regional welfare regimes: The East Asian case. ISSA The Year 2000 International Research Conference on Social Security, 25 September 2000, Helsinki.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gröne, O., and M. Garcia-Barbero. 2001. Integrated care: A position paper of the WHO European office for integrated health services. International Journal of Integrated Care Apr–June 1: e21.

    Google Scholar 

  • ISSA (International Social Security Organization). 2013. Social security coverage extension in the BRICS: A comparative study on the extension of coverage in Brazil, the Russian federation, India, China and South Africa. Geneva: ISSA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenson, J. 2009. Lost in translation: The social investment perspective and gender equality. Social Politics 16: 446–483.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2010. Diffusing ideas for after neoliberalism—The social investment perspective in Europe and Latin America. Global Social Policy 10: 59–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khassoum, D. 2004. Data on the migration of health care workers: Sources, uses and challenges. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 82(8): 601–607.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingdon, John Wells. 2013. Agendas, alternatives and public policies updated edition with an epilogue on health care. Harlow: Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korpi, W. 1989. Power, politics and state autonomy in the development of social citizenship. American Sociological Review 54: 309–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lancet. 2013. The lancet commissions: Global health 2035: A world converging within a generation. The Lancet 382: 1898–1955. http://www.globalhealth2035.org/sites/default/files/report/global-health-2035.pdf. Accessed Mar 2016.

  • Le Grand, J. 1982. The strategy of equality. London: Allen and Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1997. Knights, knaves or pawns? human behaviour and social policy. Journal of Social Policy 26: 149–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2006. Motivation, agency and public policy: Of knights, knaves, pawns and queens. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Grand, J., and W. Bartlett (eds.). 1993. Quasi-markets and social policy. Basingstoke: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Light, D.W. 1993. Escaping the traps of post war Western medicine. European Journal of Public Health 3(4): 281–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lister, R. 2003. Investing in the citizen-worker of the future: Transformations in citizenship and the state under new Labour. Social Policy and Administration 37: 427–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marmot, M., and R. Wilkinson. 2005. Social determinants of health. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, T.H. 1965. The right to welfare. The Sociological Review 13: 261–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKee, M. 2002. Substance use and social and economic transition: The need for evidence. International Journal of Drug Policy 13: 453–459.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLaren, L., and P. Hawe. 2005. Ecological perspectives in health research. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 59: 6–14. doi:10.1136/jech.2003.018044.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Midgley, J. 2004. Social development and social welfare: Implications for social policy. In A handbook of comparative social policy, ed. P. Kennett, 182–204. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mills, A. 2014. Universal health coverage: The holy grail? 21st Annual Lecture, Royal College of Physicians London, 9 June 2014, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mkandawire. T. 2005. Targeting and universalism in poverty reduction. Social policy and development programme Paper No. 23. Geneva: UNRISD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mongkhonvanit, P.T. and P. Hanvoravongchai. 2014. The impacts of universalization: A case study on Thailand’s social protection and universal health coverage. UNRISD project on towards universal social security in emerging economies: Process, institutions and actors. Geneva: UNRISD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mooney, G. 2012. Neoliberalism is bad for our health. International Journal of Health Services 42: 383–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mossialos, E., M. Wenzl, R. Osborn, and C. Anderson. 2015. International profiles of healthcare systems. New York: The Commonwealth Fund.

    Google Scholar 

  • Navarro, V. 2008. Neoliberalism and its consequences: The world health situation since Alma Ata. Global Social Policy 8: 152–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, J.S. 2004. Gender, citizenship and welfare state regimes. In A handbook of comparative social policy, ed. P. Kennett, 137–161. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osborne, D., and T. Gaebler. 1992. Reinventing government: How the entrepreneurial spirit is transforming the public sector. Reading: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phelan, J., B.G. Link, and P. Tehranifar. 2010. Social conditions as fundamental causes of health inequalities: Theory, evidence and policy implications. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour 51(S): S28–S40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierson, P. (ed.). 2001. The new politics of the welfare state. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasell, M.E. 1995. Cost sharing in health insurance—A re-examination. New England Journal of Medicine 332: 1164–1168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sainsbury, D. 1993. Dual welfare and sex segregation of access to social benefits: Income maintenance policies in the UK, the US, the Netherlands and Sweden. Journal of Social Policy 22(1): 69–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandel, M. 2012. What money can’t buy: The moral limits of markets. London: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schieber, G. 1997. Innovations in health care financing: Proceedings of a World Bank conference March 10–11. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Schoen, C., R. Osborn, D. Squire, M.M. Doty, R. Pierson, and S. Applebaum. 2010. How health insurance design affects access to care and costs by income in eleven countries. Health Affairs 29(12): 2323–2334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seldon, A. 2007. Capitalism: A condensed version. London: Institute of Economic Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, Amartya. 2015. Universal healthcare: The affordable dream. The Guardian, 6 January. www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jan/06/-sp-universal-healthcare-the-affordable-dream-amartya-sen. Accessed Mar 2016.

  • Sen, A., and J. Drèze. 2013. An uncertain glory: India and its contradictions. London: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shkolnikov, V.M., G.A. Cornia, D.A. Leon, and F. Mesle. 1998. Causes of the Russian mortality crisis: Evidence and interpretations. World Development 26: 1995–2011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, S., D. Sinclair, R. Raine, and B. Reeves. 2005. Health care evaluation. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Standing, G. 2011. The precariat. London: Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stilwell, B., D. Khassoum, P. Zura, M. Vujicic, O. Adams, and M. Dal Poz. 2004. Migration of health care workers from developing countries: Strategic approaches to its management. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 82(8): 595–600.

    Google Scholar 

  • Surender, R. 2014. The drivers of universal health care in South Africa: The role of ideas, institutions and actors. UNRISD project on towards universal social security in emerging economies: Process, institutions and actors. Geneva: UNRISD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tawney, R.H. 1964. Equality. London: Unwin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Titmuss, R.M. 1970. The gift relationship: From human blood to social policy. London: George Allen and Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • UN (United Nations) General Assembly. 2012. Global health and foreign policy. 67th session, agenda item 123, 6 December 2012. UN Doc. No. A/67/L.36. undocs.org/A/67/L.36. Accessed Mar 2016.

  • ———. 2015. Resolution 70/1, Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. UN Doc. No.A/RES/70/1. undocs.org/A/RES/70/1. Accessed 20 Mar 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vabø, M., and M. Szebehely. 2012. A caring state for all older people? In Welfare state, universalization and diversity, ed. A. Anttonen, L. Haikio, and K. Stefansson, 121–143. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • WHO (World Health Organization). 2000. Health systems: Improving performance. Geneva: WHO.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2010. World health report 2010: Health systems financing: The path to universal coverage. Geneva: WHO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilensky, H.L., and C.N. Lebeaux. 1958. Industrial society and social welfare. New York: Russell Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, R., and K. Pickett. 2011. The spirit level: Why greater equality makes societies stronger. New York: Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, J.Q. 1975. The rise of the Bureaucratic state. The Public Interest 41(3): 77–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamin, A.E. 2005. The right to health under international law and its relevance to the United States. American Journal of Public Health 95: 1156–1161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. London, UK

    Susanne MacGregor

Authors
  1. Susanne MacGregor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. UNRISD, Geneva, Switzerland

    Ilcheong Yi

Copyright information

© 2017 United Nations Research Institute for Social Development

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

MacGregor, S. (2017). Universalism and Health: The Battle of Ideas. In: Yi, I. (eds) Towards Universal Health Care in Emerging Economies. Social Policy in a Development Context. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53377-7_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53377-7_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-53376-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-53377-7

  • eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation