**1. Introduction**

Good health is an important capital good for well-being and longevity [1], and quality health care is a derivative of good health among other social and economic determinants of health [2]. Universal health insurance schemes provide financial risk protection for many population groups, especially the poor, against catastrophic episodes of illness and accidents. However, inequities in health care are pervasive and have impoverished many because of excessive health care expenditures.

The choice of health care financing systems can have good or unintended devastating consequences on access to and delivery of quality affordable universal health care. Several countries in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are exploring and developing different health care financing mechanisms to pay for health care for the poor, while advanced nations are proposing new methods, revising, or reviving their health financing policies to ensure equitable and sustainable health care for all. These efforts are imperative because access to health care is a fundamental human right. However, unfair national health policies have left millions of people, especially the poor with no or scarce access with low quality. Those who are fortunate to have access do not have the expected quality when and where they need it. The Alma Ata declaration of universal health care, and "Health for All by the year 2000", though achieved some increase in anticipated health care. The Millennium Development Goals Policy and its targets were very good international public health financing strategies, but many developing countries could not achieve the set targets because of inequities in funds to implement the proposed strategies. Notwithstanding the difficulties in funding and other challenges, there were some improvements in global health status indicators.

Today, the global health community has set itself to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) through Goal 3 and Goal 6 of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the agenda 2030 [3]. These two goals, among others, seek to achieve universal health care for everyone, located everywhere, with all ages without discrimination in terms of financial ability to pay. Goal 6 that is directly linked to Goal 3 seeks to provide sufficient water and sanitation for all global communities (www.sustainabledevelopment.un.org).

Again, I hypothesize that this policy of universal health coverage would not also be realized unless there is concerted effort to ensure fair financing strategies, adequate funding for its implementation, and efficient monitoring systems to reduce corruption and duplication of financial resources. The paper further inquires into selected best choices and methods that will ensure efficient and sustainable health financing in LMICs. The concept of health insurance, health equity, examples of best practice health financing models, success factors, and red flags of selected health financing systems are illustrated in this paper. The impact of coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) on health systems financing in LMICs is also elaborated in this chapter.
