As part of the North American Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (NAO) Lecture Series we welcome Tsung-Mei Cheng on Wednesday, February 13, 2018 at 9:00 AM in HS 208 (Health Sciences Building, 155 College Street, Toronto). This event is free of charge and open to anyone. Forward it to a friend who might be interested.

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Taiwan’s Single-Payer National Health Insurance: Experience So Far and Future Challenges

Taiwan’s National Health Insurance is a single payer system established in 1995. At its planning stage in the late 1980s it had looked to Canada, among other nations, for insights on how to implement a universal health coverage scheme. Insurance coverage in Taiwan is universal and the system has been able to maintain overall health spending as a percent of GDP that is considerably lower than the average for OECD nations, and at the same time meet the health care needs of its population without the often seen challenges to single payer systems such as long waiting times. The presentation will look at how Taiwan’s single-payer health system works, what are its strengths and weaknesses, and challenges going forward. Where possible, some comparisons with Canada’s health system will be included.

Tsung-Mei Cheng

Health Policy Research Analyst at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

Tsung-Mei Cheng is Health Policy Research Analyst at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, USA. Cheng’s current research focuses on cross-national comparisons of health systems in the U.S., Europe and East Asia; health reforms in the U.S., China and Taiwan; health technology assessment and comparative effectiveness research; health care quality, financing, payment reform, including evidence based clinical guidelines and clinical pathways, and pay for performance (P4P) in East Asian health systems. She is cofounder of the Princeton Conference, an annual national conference on health policy that brings together government, the private sector, and the research community on issues affecting health care and health policy in the United States.

She is an adviser to the China National Health Development Research Center (CNHDRC), the official Chinese government think tank for health policy under China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission (formerly The Ministry of Health). Cheng also serves as a special advisor to the Center for the Study of Major Policies (CSMP) of Tsinghua University, China. The Center focuses on translating research into policy and policy recommendations on major issues for high level Chinese government.

Cheng is a member of the editorial board of Health Affairs. Cheng is also a member of the Emerging Market Symposium (EMS) Steering Committee; an Oxford University based initiative that addresses pressing sectoral issues facing emerging market countries.

Cheng served as an advisor to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence International (NICE International) of the United Kingdom, which advised governments and agencies overseas on capacity building for evidence base to inform national health policy as well as knowledge transfer among decision-makers across national borders. Cheng also served as an adviser to the Strategic Review Board of the Science and Technology Advisory Group (STAG), which advises the Office of the Premier of Taiwan on policies relating to the development of science and technology including health care in Taiwan.

Cheng served on the International Advisory Board of the Elsevier On-line Encyclopedia of Health Economics, the on-line publication by the publisher of medical and scientific literature (The Lancet, Cell, Gray’s Anatomy, ScienceDirect, etc.) designed to meet the needs of the rapidly changing and growing field of health economics which calls for timely “authoritative articles on key concepts, issues, theory and methods” in health economics. She also served on the Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control (GTF.CCC), an initiative convened by the Harvard Global Equity Initiative, the Harvard Medical School, the Harvard School of Public Health and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute to combat cancer in developing countries. Cheng was a member of the International Advisory Group of AcademyHealth, the U.S. based professional association of health services researchers.

North American Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (NAO)

The North American Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (NAO) is a collaborative partnership of interested researchers, health organizations, and governments promoting evidence-informed health system policy decision-making. Due to the high degree of health system decentralization in the United States and Canada, the NAO is committed to focusing attention on comparing health systems and policies at the provincial and state level in federations.