Providers actually provide information, goods and services to consumers and receive payments; we focus on providers covered by insurance contracts. Health plans are agents who contract with and pay providers, also known in some countries as sickness funds. The sponsor in a health system serves as an intermediary between consumers and health plans, allowing for consumer contributions for insurance to differ from the ex ante expected cost of health care across consumers. In most countries the sponsor is a government agency, although in the US and Japan the sponsor for most employed workers is their employer. The key role of the sponsor in most countries is to ensure that the insurance contribution by a consumer with high expected costs (such
