Health Care
With aging populations and rising costs, health care provision is a concern for societies on both sides of the Atlantic. Although both the U.S. and Germany have very different health care systems, a more nuanced analysis of the systems shows that both countries are confronted by similar challenges, among them the reform of the health care system so that it rewards quality health care and payment systems for medical providers. A cornerstone of economic policy, health care policy in Germany and the U.S. will influence domestic policy debates for years to come. More articles on health care in the U.S. and Germany Information on AICGS’ Project on Health Care Policy
The €20 Billion Problem in Germany’s Statutory Health Insurance
Health care policy experts in Germany are discussing a bizarre problem: What to do with €20 billion of accumulated reserves in the Statutory Health Insurance System? Of course, the availability of money creates the usual suggestions. Providers want their share of the cake through higher payments—for example, the chairman of the National… Read more >
Vigilance vs. Precaution: Diverging Directions in U.S. and European Technology Governance?
In a new Transatlantic Perspectives essay, DAAD/AICGS Fellow Dr. Sascha Dickel examines how the emergence of synthetic biology has affected scientific regulatory principles in both the U.S. and Europe, focusing on the two entities’ respective ethics councils and how they balance the potential promise and risks that accompany new synthetic biology technologies. Dr. Dickel presented his research findings in a seminar on June 23, 2011; a summary of this event is available below.
At the Eve of Convergence? Social Services in the U.S. and Germany
In Policy Report 42, Annette Zimmer and Steven Rathgeb Smith look at social service and health care provision in the United States and Germany, examining the historical development of the different styles of welfare state, the role of public and private expenditures and providers, and current trends in the two countries. The authors offer answers to questions such as how is social service and health care provision affected by the new approach of designing social policy? They also address whether path-dependency in the two countries is still in place; or if German and American nonprofit social and health care providers, confronted with similar problems, tend to adopt similar strategies in order to keep or even enlarge their share of a growing market of social service provision.
Stem Cell Politics in Germany and the United States
It has become fashionable to contrast a religious United States with a secular Europe. As with most broad generalizations, this one contains some truth. Levels of religious self-identification and practice are higher in America than in Western Europe. Religious rhetoric plays a more prominent role in public discourse in Washington, DC, than it does in London, Berlin, Paris, or other European capitals. In making broad comparisons, however, much depends on how key terms are defined…
Health Care and Pension Reform
Germany and the United States are facing similar challenges of aging populations. While the aging trend is stronger and more dramatic in Germany, both societies will have to deal with massive challenges over the coming decades to both pension and healthcare policies…
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