Government-led Schemes Research Articles

Participation in Social Policy: Public Health in Comparative Perspective (Elements in the Politics of Development)

Participation in Social Policy: Public Health in Comparative Perspective (Elements in the Politics of Development)

Facilitators and barriers to participation of the private sector health facilities in health insurance & government-led schemes in India

BackgroundIn India, policymakers are in an opined that expansion of public-funded health insurance is the key to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Despite untapped potential to be part of such government-run public-funded health scheme, many private service providers are reluctant to join in such scheme due to various reasons. This paper aims to evaluate facilitators, barriers and perception to participation of the private sector health facilities in Health Insurance & government-led schemes. MethodsPresent study was conducted in 83 private hospitals of Vadodara city. Sampling frame was formed & with the use of random number table, 83 hospitals were selected randomly. Data collection was done in pre tested, pre formed questionnaire & respondents were the medical superintendent or the person in-charge of the hospital. ResultsIn the present study 30% & 26% of hospitals were enrolled for cashless private health insurance facility & government health schemes respectively. Social service, competition and increase clientele were the common reason sought for enrolment in government health schemes. Low & delayed reimbursement, bribe to clear payment, limited services covered, administrative issues were the common problems identified for non-enrolment. There was an association between a number of beds in the hospital & enrolment to government health scheme (p < 0.05). Availability of cashless private health insurance facility (p < 0.01) and satisfied with the current TPA model of health insurance (p < 0.05) were also found statistically significant. ConclusionTimely & rational increase in remuneration, expanding the scope of services and use of appropriate technology for ease in administration is the need of an hour to engage vast service providers under the ambit of public-funded health insurance.

Facilitators and barriers to participation of private sector health facilities in government-led schemes for maternity services in India: a qualitative study

ObjectiveDespite provision of accreditation of private sector health providers in government-led schemes for maternity services in India, their participation has been low. This has led to an underutilisation of their...

Cold homes, fuel poverty and energy efficiency improvements: A longitudinal focus group approach.

Cold homes and fuel poverty have been identified as factors in health and social inequalities that could be alleviated through energy efficiency interventions. Research on fuel poverty and the health impacts of affordable warmth initiatives have to date primarily been conducted using quantitative and statistical methods, limiting the way how fuel poverty is understood. This study took a longitudinal focus group approach that allowed exploration of lived experiences of fuel poverty before and after an energy efficiency intervention. Focus group discussions were held with residents from three low-income communities before (n = 28) and after (n = 22) they received energy efficiency measures funded through a government-led scheme. The results show that improving the energy efficiency of homes at risk of fuel poverty has a profound impact on wellbeing and quality of life, financial stress, thermal comfort, social interactions and indoor space use. However, the process of receiving the intervention was experienced by some as stressful. There is a need for better community engagement and communication to improve the benefits delivered by fuel poverty programmes, as well as further qualitative exploration to better understand the wider impacts of fuel poverty and policy-led intervention schemes.

Bottom-up disaster resilience

The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake highlights some of the successes of government-led schemes to mitigate the impact of natural disasters. A stronger focus on individuals and local communities could reduce losses even further in the future.

Comparison of nutrient profiling schemes for restricting the marketing of food and drink to children

The food and beverage industry have made voluntary pledges to reduce children's exposure to the marketing of energy-dense foods and beverages, and in 2012 announced the replacement of company-specific nutrient profiling schemes with uniform sets of criteria from 2013 (in the USA) and 2014 (in the European Union [EU]). To compare the proposed USA and EU nutrient profiling schemes and three government-led schemes, paying particular attention to the differences in sugar criteria. Food and beverage products permitted to be advertised in the USA under pre-2013 criteria were examined using five nutrient profiling schemes: the forthcoming USA and EU schemes and three government-approved schemes: the US Interagency Working Group (IWG) proposals, the United Kingdom Office of Communications (OfCom) regulations and the Danish Forum co-regulatory Code. Under the new USA and EU nutrient profiling schemes, 88 (49%) and 73 (41%) of a total of 178 products would be permitted to be advertised, respectively. The US IWG permitted 25 (14%) products; the Ofcom regulations permitted 65 (37%) and the Danish Code permitted 13 (7%). Government-led schemes are significantly more restrictive than industry-led schemes, primarily due to their tougher sugar criteria. The Danish Forum (93%) and USA IWG scheme (86%) are the most restrictive of the five examined. Further harmonization of nutrient profiling schemes is needed to reduce children's exposure to the promotion of energy-dense foods.

Carbon blinkers and policy blindness: The difficulties of ‘Growing Our Woodland in Wales’

The need for climate change mitigation has led to a recent upsurge in policies aimed to deliver re-afforestation across the globe, but with mixed successes observed depending upon the levels of private land ownership and ability of governments to engage land managers. This paper evaluates a new government-led scheme in Wales, which is intended to increase woodland cover from 14% to 20% by 2030 to offset the greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. As the scheme is primarily intended to promote woodland creation on farms, the analysis of the paper focusses upon the question of how to incentivise farmers, and the reasons why difficulties have been experienced engaging land owners in the scheme. Whilst a number of recommendations are made from this policy evaluation, the paper also demonstrates that key lessons have not been applied from existing literature on farmers’ behaviour and environmental scheme uptake, and that policy makers are not integrating practice across departmental divisions. As such, the paper suggests that the new focus on carbon sequestration has acted as a distraction to the development of a more robust governance strategy that builds on previous successes and failures in agri-environment policy.

Who is importing forest products from Africa to China? An analysis of implications for initiatives to enhance legality and sustainability

Global forest product value chains are increasingly subject to regulatory requirements, such as legality and sustainability certification. For African forest products, a shift in the export destinations of forest products towards China, the leading timber product manufacturer, has raised concerns that social and environmental product and process standards are declining. Aggregate drivers of this shift have been documented, yet there has been little enterprise-level analysis of Chinese actors in African timber imports based in China. This paper provides an initial analysis, highlighting implications for existing and emerging regulatory initiatives. Data show that although an increasing number of Chinese private enterprises is engaged in African timber imports, import volumes remain concentrated among a small number of geographically clustered private and state-owned firms. Government-led schemes are beginning to address timber legality concerns. But given China’s growing domestic market for finished wood products, sustainability certification requirements driven by the US and EU will not be sufficient to ensure improved sourcing by Chinese firms.