Public-private dichotomy in providing health services, Biology

Assignment Help:

Public-Private Dichotomy in Providing Health Services

The role of government in establishing and providing the national health system is substantial in all countries. There are several jurisdictional levels of government: from central to provincial to local. While some health services are provided at each level, the distribution of authority and responsibility among the levels differ. They also change over time in tune with developments in socio-economic, political, and technological areas.


Organisationally, Ministry of Health (MoH) functions as the apex policy making body in matters of health in all the countries. While its main responsibility is confined to health, it usually pervades many areas like education, urban development, environment, etc. The essential inter-linkage of all these sectors has broadened the area of operation of the MoH singnificantly. The public health care services provided by the government are also supplemented by several investment/charitable initiatives of the private sector. Their initiatives/motivations of functioning, however, are determined by the socio-economic status of the population and the political system in existence in a country. For instance, in a purely socialistic type of government, the role of public sector is predominant. Such systems are nowadays very rare. In free market economies, the role of private sector will be predominant. If the health system operates under imperfect market situations in such economies, monopolistic tendencies driven by profit motives create distortions in the system. In such a situation, if the health care services are exclusively left to be provided by the private sector players, the fundamental assertion of health as a basic human right will be violated. As a consequence, the needs of the poor and the deprived sections of the population will be severely compromised. Such a situation warrants a regulatory role to be played by the government to correct the market failures and to ensure inclusion of equity considerations in the provision of health services.

Health is a public/merit good. It cannot be freely driven by profit considerations alone. Thus, it should not be allowed to fall into the domains of ‘rivalry’ and ‘exclusion’. Judged by these two factors, private goods may not have externalities of social values. If they have, the services provided by the private goods meet the efficiency criteria; otherwise not. The latter case is an instance of ‘market failure’. Eradicating communicable diseases through immunisation has positive externality, but acquires negative undertones when the same is not universalised. Smoking which has a negative externality is another instance where the interests of non- smokers needs to be protected by provisions of public governance or regulation.


Even in market economies where health insurance is very much widespread and almost compulsory, health insurance markets quite often fail. From an economic point of view, such market failures occur because of ‘cream skimming’ by private insurers who have incentives to insure mainly healthy people who will not need care, or because of  ‘adverse selection’ which arises when unhealthy people seek (or continue) insurance coverage more than healthy people. There is also the instance of ‘moral hazard’ of patients who do not respond to the true cost of care (because they are insured) claiming quite often additional diagnostic testing and treatment.

 


Related Discussions:- Public-private dichotomy in providing health services

Can you explain plasmids, Q. What are plasmids? And what is the significanc...

Q. What are plasmids? And what is the significance of plasmids for the recombinant DNA technology? Plasmids are circular fragments of DNA that are accessories to the main bacte

Metestrus - estrous cycle, Metestrus - Estrous cycle This occurs shortly...

Metestrus - Estrous cycle This occurs shortly after ovulation and is intermediate between estrus and diestrus. The period lasts for 10 to 14 hours and mating is usually not perm

What a cell with a euploid number of chromosomes contains, A cell with a eu...

A cell with a euploid number of chromosomes contains: A.one half of a complete set of chromosomes B.several complete sets of chromosomes C.the correct number of chromosomes D.two c

Determine the deamination during rna editing, Which of the following is not...

Which of the following is not needed for C to U deamination during RNA editing? A. Formation of localized segments of double stranded RNA. B. The 5' and 3' efficiency elemen

What is bioremediation, What is bioremediation? Bioremediation is the u...

What is bioremediation? Bioremediation is the use of microorganisms, as bacteria, protists and fungi, to degrade noxious substances turning them into non toxic or less toxic su

Solution of ampicillin, How much ampicillin (sodium sal, mw=371.40) would y...

How much ampicillin (sodium sal, mw=371.40) would you dissolve in 400 mL of water to make 80 mg/ml solution of ampicillin?

What are bacteria, What are bacteria? Bacteria are unicellular and prok...

What are bacteria? Bacteria are unicellular and prokaryotic beings. Bacteria have simple organization; they present an , plasma membrane, external cell wall, circular DNA withi

What gases was the earth''s primitive atmosphere constituted, Before the em...

Before the emergence of life of what gases was the earth's primitive atmosphere constituted? The earth's primitive atmosphere was fundamentally formed of methane, hydrogen, amm

What are the attribute of amylase inhibitors, What are the attribute of amy...

What are the attribute of amylase inhibitors? This has been attributed to a number of reasons, Let us see how these inhibitors act. The inhibitor forms a complex with amylase,

Proteins of plant origin - seed proteins, Proteins of Plant Origin - Seed P...

Proteins of Plant Origin - Seed Proteins Seed Proteins: Although a large number of plants produce seeds having protein contents in excess of 15%, only a few are utilized for fo

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd