This volume presents the results of research which represent a significant contribution to the knowledge of equity in the finance and delivery of health care in ten countries. It compares the experience of nine European countries and the US using a consistent methodology to draw out comparable results from ten very different health care systems. Such an approach facilitates not only a greater understanding of the performance of the health care systems of other countries but also the identification of the lessons that can be learned from international comparisons. In recent years it has been recognized that many health and health care problems are similar across many countries. This book demonstrates that given efficient research teams, research funding can produce significant new knowledge of direct relevance to the reform of health care systems world-wide.