Ewout van Ginneken, Ph.D., is a senior researcher at the Berlin University of Technology and honorary research fellow at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. From 2011–12 he was a Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice at the Harvard School of Public Health. Van Ginneken is coauthor of several studies, including European Observatory Health Systems in Transition (HiT) reviews on the Dutch, Czech, Estonian, Bulgarian, Slovenian, and Slovakian health care systems and reforms. With a team of U.S. researchers, van Ginneken is currently working on the first European Observatory HiT review of the U.S. health care system. He has also written peer-reviewed journal articles on health insurance, pharmaceutical policy, and health systems and policy issues in various countries. In addition he authored book chapters on health financing issues and cross-border health care. Van Ginneken holds an M.Sc. in health policy and administration from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and a Ph.D. in public health from the Berlin University of Technology.
Harkness Project Title: Implementing State-Based Health Insurance Exchanges: Key Issues and Challenges
Placement: Harvard School of Public Health
Mentor: Katherine Swartz, Harvard School of Public Health
Co-Mentor: Timothy Jost, Washington & Lee University
Biography at time of Harkness Fellowship: Ewout van Ginneken, Ph.D., a 2011–12 Dutch Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice, is senior researcher at the European Observatory/WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Systems Research and Management, Berlin University of Technology. Previously, he was a lecturer in finance and management at the Instituto Tecnologico y Estudios Superiores de Monterey, Mexico. Van Ginneken is co-author of 8 books, including the last two European Observatory Health Systems in Transition (HiT) books on the Dutch health care system and reforms. With a team of U.S. researchers, led by Thomas Rice, professor of health services at the University of California, Los Angeles, van Ginneken is currently working on the first European Observatory HiT review of the U.S. health care system. He has also written book chapters on the health insurance benefit basket, cost pressures on the health system, public expectations, and cross-border health, as well as peer-reviewed articles on private health insurance in the Netherlands and European pharmaceutical policy. Van Ginneken holds a doctorate in public health from Berlin University of Technology and a master’s in health sciences and health policy and administration from Maastricht University.
Project: Van Ginneken explored experiences with health insurance exchanges in the U.S. and Europe, and examined the conditions necessary for competitive health insurance markets to work, identified barriers to successfully implementing exchanges, and derived policy lessons for U.S. states. He conducted a literature review followed by interviews with academics and officials in charge of implementing the exchanges, with a particular focus on affordability, competition, access, and transparency.
Career Activity since Fellowship:
- Senior Researcher, Department of Health Care Management at the European Observatory/WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Systems Research and Management, Berlin University of Technology and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
Current Position:
- Hub Coordinator, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Berlin University of Technology
Email: [email protected]
Selected Publications
Van Ginneken E, “Perennial Health Care Reform--The Long Dutch Quest for Cost Control and Quality Improvement.” New England Journal of Medicine, 2015.
Van Ginneken E, Rice T, “Enforcing Enrollment in Health Insurance Exchanges: Evidence from the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany.” Medical Care Research and Review. 2015.
Barnes AJ, Unruh L, Chukmaitov A, van Ginneken E. Accountable care organizations in the USA: Types, developments and challenges. Health Policy. 2014 Aug 1.
Van der Wees PJ, Nijhuis-van der Sanden MW, van Ginneken E, Ayanian JZ, Schneider EC, Westert GP. Governing healthcare through performance measurement in Massachusetts and the Netherlands. Health Policy. 2014 May;116(1):18-26
Rice T, Rosenau P, Unruh LY, Barnes AJ, Saltman RB, Van Ginneken E. The United States health system: transition towards universal coverage. Eurohealth 2013; 19(3): 41-44.
Rice T, Rosenau P, Unruh LY, Barnes AJ, Saltman RB, van Ginneken E. United States of America: health system review. Health Syst Transit. 2013;15(3):1-431.
Van der Wees PJ, Nijhuis-van der Sanden MW, van Ginneken E, Ayanian JZ, Schneider EC, Westert GP. “Governing healthcare through performance measurement in Massachusetts and the Netherlands.” Health Policy. 2013 Sep 28.
van Ginneken E, Swartz K, Van der Wees P.. “Health Insurance Exchanges In Switzerland And The Netherlands Offer Five Key Lessons For The Operations Of US Exchanges.” Health Affairs 2013; 32 (4).
van Ginneken E, Gray BH. “Coverage for undocumented migrants becomes more urgent.” Ann Intern Med. 2013 Mar 5;158(5 Pt 1):347-8.
Gray BH, van Ginneken E. "Health care for undocumented migrants: European approaches," Issue Brief (Commonw Fund). 2012 Dec;33:1-12.
van Ginneken E, Gray BH. "Coverage for undocumented migrants becomes more urgent," Ann Intern Med 2013 Mar 5;158(5 Pt 1):347-8.
van Ginneken E, Swartz K, Van der Wees P. "Health Insurance Exchanges In Switzerland And The Netherlands Offer Five Key Lessons For The Operations Of US Exchanges," Health Affairs, 2013 Apr;32(4):744-52.
Rice T, Rosenau P, Unruh LY, Barnes AJ, Saltman RB, Van Ginneken E. "The United States health system: transition towards universal coverage," Eurohealth 2013; 19(3): 41-44.
Rice T, Rosenau P, Unruh LY, Barnes AJ, Saltman RB, van Ginneken E. "United States of America: health system review," Health Syst Transit. 2013;15(3):1-431.
van Ginneken E, Groenwegen PP, McKee M. “Personal healthcare budgets: what can England learn from the Netherlands?” BMJ, March 2012.
van Ginneken E, Swartz K. “Implementing Insurance Exchanges: Lessons from Europe,” NEJM, 2012; 367:691-693.