System reform in integrated health systems

As the debate progresses on health care reform and the ultimate form of the U.S. system, important lessons can be drawn from examinations of other health care systems. From the U.S. perspective, European health systems appear to have a certain homogeneity about them. Americans tend to look at all European arrangements as single-source financing systems. Because these systems all provide universal coverage, the assumption is that there must be a strong cohesion and similarity among them. Viewed from the European perspective, the reality appears to be rather different. In this article, the health cae systems of Nordic countries are analyzed in terms of their differences both from other European systems and from the United States approach.