Healthcare system
A healthcare system is the organization by which an individual's health care is provided.
From an economic perspective, healthcare may be viewed as just another product or service to be purchased by an individual, however, healthcare has many special characteristics that encourage government intervention to a greater or lesser extent:
- The provision of critical healthcare treatment is often regarded as a basic human right, regardless of whether the individual has the means to pay—and some forms of healthcare treatment cost more than a typical family's life savings.
- Healthcare professionals are obligated by their oaths of service to provide lifesaving treatment.
- Consumers often lack the information or understanding to be able to rationally choose between alternative healthcare providers when they need treatment, particularly in urgent treatment.
Healthcare systems models
- Purely private enterprise healthcare systems are comparatively rare. Where they exist, it is usually for a comparatively well-off subpopulation in a poorer country with a poorer standard of healthcare - for instance, private clinics for a small expatriate population in an otherwise poor country. But there are countries with a majority private healthcare system (liberal healthcare system) with residual public service (see Medicare, Medicaid).
- The other major models are public insurance systems:
In almost every country with a government health care system a parallel private system is allowed to operate, this is sometimes referred to as two-tier health care. The scale, extent, and funding of these private systems is very variable, however. The country with the least private involvement is Canada, where pride is widespread in their one-tier system of only government provided healthcare.
History of healthcare systems
- religious-based health systems (the Catholic system)
- philanthrophy in health systems
See also
