Full Description
First published in 1998. This volume (the second of a twin set grouping articles based on papers presented at seminars in Sigtuna, Sweden, during 1994 - 1996) deals with the largest spending programs of the welfare state - old age pensions and medical care, and their place within debates about the desirability and affordability of modern social programs.
The volume is divided into four parts. The first part deals with general welfare state issues, cross-cutting themes and characterizations of whole systems within such diverse disciplines as social law, sociology and economics. Part two deals with old age pension reform. The countries discussed have widely different geographical, cultural and historical backgrounds. Part three takes up a number of interesting topics under the heading of health care reform. Part four deals with a substantial issue located and the juncture of aging, affordability, pensions and especially health care: increased longevity (and population aging) and the associated disability and frailty. What effect will these have on the future of modern welfare states?
Contents
1. General Issues 1. Social Assistance in the Member States of the European Union: Common Features and Continuing Differences 2. The Relation Between Social and Occupational Security 3. Legal Indexation of Social Security Benefits: An International Comparison of Systems and Their Effects 2. Pension Reform 1. The Hidden Liabilities of Public Pension Plans in Twelve EU-Countries: What Does it Mean? 2. Pensions in Transition in the U.S. and Japan: Parallels and Contrasts 3. Transitional Effects of a Change in the Spanish Pension System 4. Financing Old Age in Singapore: Are There Lessons for the Welfare states? 5. Pay-as-you-go Versus Funded System of Financing Pensions in Central and Eastern Europe 6. Pension System Reforms in Latin America: How Much Privatization? 3. Health Care Insurance 1. Equity, Cost Containment and Efficiency in Health Care: Why Can They be Achieved by Regulating Competition? 2. Health Care Reform: What is the Problem? 3. The Social and Economic Consequences of Delaying a Political Decision Concerning Reform of the Health Care System in Poland 4. Provision and Financing of Long Term Care for the Elderly: The Role of Government 4. Healthy Life Expectancy 1. Impact of the Evolution of Life Expectancy on Future Public Health Care Expenditures 2. Forecasts of Future Disabled and Institutionalized US Populations 1995 to 2040
