Final answer:
The country that implemented a new health system in the mid-1990s after extensive international research is Taiwan. Taiwan's National Health Insurance system of 1995 aimed to provide equitable access and drew inspiration from other countries, addressing the challenges of balancing quality, access, and cost in healthcare.
Step-by-step explanation:
The country that implemented a new health system in the mid-1990s after spending nearly a decade researching and drawing upon aspects of health systems in around a dozen other countries is Taiwan. When comparing the choices given, Germany was the first country to provide health insurance for workers, and does not match the description of the country in question. Japan and Switzerland also had established health systems and did not undergo the type of overhaul described in the mid-1990s. Therefore, Taiwan, which spent significant time overhauling its healthcare system based on international examples, is the correct choice.
Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) was enacted in 1995. It was designed to provide equal access to healthcare for all of its citizens, and it successfully combined elements from other countries' healthcare systems which are known for lower costs and better mortality outcomes compared to the private U.S. healthcare system that struggles with high costs and universal access.