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Healthcare Lessons From Europe

"[At] the same time Obamacare has created an expanded federal role in health care, other countries that have been operating government-run health programs for decades are furiously seeking to reform their dysfunctional and financially unsustainable systems before they unravel. Perhaps most notably, 'enlightened' social democracies in Europe are looking toward market-based solutions to meet the twin challenges of accommodating consumer flexibility and choice while containing high costs."

Europe Court Says Ill Workers Can Retake Vacations

"For most Europeans, almost nothing is more prized than their four to six weeks of guaranteed annual vacation leave. But it was not clear just how sacrosanct that time off was until Thursday, when Europe's highest court ruled that workers who happened to get sick on vacation were legally entitled to take another vacation."

To Reduce the Cost of Drugs, Look to Europe

"Germany, Spain, Italy and a half dozen other countries have pushed drug prices lower with a system called reference pricing. It has led to drug price decreases and significant savings in the Canadian province of British Columbia as well as in Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden. A study published in the American Journal of Managed Care found that price reductions ranged from 7 percent to 24 percent."

Europe's Debt Crisis Exacerbated by Sacrosanct Pensions

"[P]ension expenditures represent the single biggest line item in the Spanish government's budget, at nearly 40 percent of public spending and 9 percent of Spanish gross domestic product.... The fact that Spanish public pensions are not only off limits to the budget knife but also are being enhanced, is a reminder of one reason that European debt and deficit problems have proved so difficult to resolve."

Reformed Pensions Systems in Central and Eastern Europe: Challenges to Future Safe Pension Benefits

"The initial pension reform implementation made expectations for significant benefits such as increased labor participation, higher saving rates and faster capital market development. However, these benefits are not visible for the time being.... Calculated reduction in the replacement rates in this paper shows that the reform is not going to create adequate pension benefits."

Implementing Insurance Exchanges -- Lessons from Europe

"Citing the experiences of the Netherlands and Switzerland -- where exchanges have been part of the health care landscape for some time -- the authors of this [article] argue that additional measures will be needed to control costs and improve quality."

America Can Learn from Europe on Work-Life Balance

"[A]lthough many European countries have seen increases in their working hours ... employees are typically given between four and six weeks' paid vacation time by their employer. So what drives Americans to work such long hours and take few, if any, vacations?"

Pension Pain for Multinationals: European Demographic Time Bomb May Increase Labor Costs

Excerpt: Aggrieved workers are taking to the streets in Toulouse, Milan and Berlin to protest proposed reforms in Europe's troubled public pension systems. European governments, in turn, are looking to private employers, including U.S.-based multinationals, to assume more responsibility for retirement costs.

Gerhard Schröder Is Finally Getting Serious About Reform-- Or Is He?

Excerpt: Non-wage labor costs, such as pension contributions and health-insurance payments, are hobbling the economy. They amount to 42% of the average German salary, among the highest in the world, and keep companies from investing in the country.

Global Medical Cost Increases in 2016 Expected to Be 2.5 Times Higher Than General Inflation

"[A]verage cost increases for employer-sponsored medical plans globally will be 9.1 percent in 2016. This is 5.5 percentage points higher than the global average projected inflation rate of 3.6 percent.... [P]rojected trend rates are expected to vary significantly by region. Both Latin America and the Middle East are expected to see double-digit average medical trend rates in 2016, while Europe and North America will experience trend rates just below 6 percent. Still, average trend rates for all regions are expected to exceed average regional inflation levels by at least 4 percentage points."