Introduction: In response to the significant increase in health care expenditure and the raising need for universal health coverage, private health insurance (PHI) market has expanded in recent years. Methodology: This research is a descriptive-analytical study based on a cross-sectional design. It presents the share of GDP and per capita expenditure spent on PHI and the role of PHI in financing inpatient care, outpatient care, pharmaceutical expenditure, and public health and prevention against other health financing methods in selected countries. It also examines the relationships between PHI and other factors. The selected countries are 13 OECD members, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey. Results: The findings indicate that in contrast to other selected countries, Netherlands spends more GDP and per capita expenditure on PHI, and Canada, Switzerland, and Hungary, respectively, have higher PHI share in financing outpatient care and pharmaceutical expenditure, inpatient care, and public health and prevention. Regarding analyzed relationships, there is a significant correlation between the share of PHI and GDP devoted to health sector and/or per capita expenditure. A significant relationship was also seen between the share of PHI funding outpatient care and pharmaceutical expenditure. Conclusion: The results show that private health insurance, which can be expanded by increasing total health expenditure, is the most important financing mechanism for completing public financing systems.
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