analysis of health, health markets and the role of governmnet

health care market

2004

Health care is a complex of different kinds of services , supplies and cares which can be related to health of a person . It also includes therapeutic , diagnostic , preventive , maintenance (palliative care , as well as counseling . It also includes dispensing of prescribed medicines and their sale (Glossary of Common Terms

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Classical concept of market , which supposes presence of the customer and the seller , who possess definite values and are ready to enter into mutually beneficial exchange , allows to examine sphere of health care as health

care market of medical services (The health care marketplace br

.1 , which can be divided into three sub-markets , which are mutually connected

Throughout the health sector - from service delivery , consulting financing and pharmaceuticals to biotech and genetics - the business of health care has become increasingly complex (Health sector management br

.1 ) [Table 1]

1 . The governmental health care market

Governmental sector is not very big . Medical service here is examined as social good , from using of which have advantages all citizens Economical relations between government and medical institutions are characterized as relations in favor of the third party : medical institution is a manufacturer of medical services , and the government is the buyer , whereas population of country uses those services (in case the citizens are insured , they can use medical service . In relation to this fact , the government cannot completely estimate quality and quantity of services , which are needed by the buyer

Population , as real consumer , cannot influence the level of payment for services and medical establishments , because demand for services from his side is not solvent

The government also pays for about half the health care purchased in this country , through the national health insurance for the poor and elderly known as Medicaid and Medicare (Sheldon Richman ,

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2 . Insurance market

Sellers of medical services in the insurance market are medical institutions , and the buyers are citizens which have formal insurance But receiving services doesn 't accompanied by exchange of values between medical institutions and citizens who have insurance , - receiving of medical help is guaranteed in correspondence with contract of insurance concluded between insurer and consumer

Taking into account these circumstances , receiver of medical service is a person , who has insurance , but he isn 't a payer for the seller- for medical institution , and he doesn 't have market value , because he doesn 't pay for service himself . The direct payer - the insurer - is not a participant of market relations , because he doesn 't participate in processes of exchange at the health care market

Besides division of commodity and money flows , health insurance market actually has no competitors in prices , because actually the process of payment and conditions of services provided is executed within the limits of territorial program by firmly established rates . Another point that there is no competitors is that the patient from the first time of entering medical establishment chooses this medical institution and is limited in receiving medical services within the limits of that...