Efficiency and equity are conflicting objectives under the traditional health insurance market, and for many years researchers and policy makers have striven to achieve both goals at the same time. Recent developments to resolve this dichotomy have been based on risk adjustment. In principle, risk adjustment works through the mechanism of equalization fund so that health plans are able to collect risk-adjusted premiums while the contribution of the insured is in accordance with their abilities to pay. S ome Western nations have already introduced risk adjustment to their market-oriented health care reforms. In Taiwan, where market-oriented health insurance proposals are under consideration by the government, it is timely to open the debate on the issue of risk adjustment prior to being implemented. After reviewing the theory of risk adjustment and international experiences on the application of risk adjustment, we recommend: (1) Netherlands' model may be modifiable and adapted to meet the need of Taiwan 's health care reform, and (2) more indigenous efforts should be immediately undertaken to study issues related to the introduction of risk adjustment in Taiwan.