Public and Private Sector Interface

In many countries the health sector is characterized by a public-private mix both in funding (insurance) and provision. I will discuss the interaction between public and private sector on both funding and provision following a review of existing theoretical and empirical literature.  

I will discuss funding issues taking different approaches: i) assuming the existence of a comprehensive public health insurance, and investigating the role of supplementary private insurance (as in many European countries); ii) assuming the presence of a developed private health insurance market and investigating the role of public insurance (like in the US); iii) taking a political-economy approach; iv) investigating whether a mix of public and private insurance can purse redistributive goals.

On the provision of health care, I will investigate: i) the choice faced by patients in opting for public or private care; ii) the rational for having doctors working simultaneously in both public and private sector (dual practice, moonlighting); iii) differential behaviour between public and private (profit and non-profit) providers; iv) the role of public-private partnerships.