Privatisation and profitisation in health care. A comparative study of Sweden and the Netherlands
Abstract
During the last 20 years, privatization
became an issue in health care. The neoliberal
market idea promised to increase
efficiency and responsiveness, while at the
same time relieving public budgets. European
countries have introduced all kind of market
instruments, reaching from internal markets,
over DRGs, to increased co-payments.
However, the welfare state literature
currently lacks a detailed explanation of
these different reforms.
All health care systems in the European
Union are affected by the same problem
pattern: demographic change, raising
demand, medical-technical innovations and
labour intensive services. Nonetheless, the
degree and form of privatization varies a lot.
This paper studies the power of ideas within
the framework of structural reform pressure
and institutional path-dependency. The
causes for privatization reforms are studied
in two countries representing the two ideal
types: the Netherlands for Social Health
Insurance and Sweden for the National
Health Service.
Article Details
- How to Cite
-
Verspohl, I. (2016). Privatisation and profitisation in health care. A comparative study of Sweden and the Netherlands. Social Cohesion and Development, 7(1), 25–38. https://doi.org/10.12681/scad.8987
- Issue
- Vol. 7 No. 1 (2012)
- Section
- Articles
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