A regulated multi-payer system of health care. In Germany, approximately 1200 nonprofit insurance plans, called Krankenkasse or “sickness funds,” are organized by employers, labor unions, and professional groups. The plans are funded by equal payroll taxes on both employers and employees. Self-employed and wealthier employees may purchase private insurance. Funds are turned over to regional networks of physicians, who reimburse doctors in private practice, and to hospitals, who pay their staff physicians. Physician networks oversee their members’ utilization. The government oversees fee negotiations which set global budgets, and also covers the poor and the unemployed.