Competition in Canadian Health Care Service Provision: Good, Bad or Indifferent?

Most provincial health care systems in Canada combine public, private non-profit, and private for-profit delivery. In Alberta, the Health Care Protection Act , known as Bill 11, allows the public to purchase certain insured surgical services from private providers. This legislation sparked a heated...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Jane E. Ruseski
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Calgary 2009-11-01
Series:The School of Public Policy Publications
Online Access:https://dev.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/sppp/article/view/42326
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author Jane E. Ruseski
author_facet Jane E. Ruseski
author_sort Jane E. Ruseski
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description Most provincial health care systems in Canada combine public, private non-profit, and private for-profit delivery. In Alberta, the Health Care Protection Act , known as Bill 11, allows the public to purchase certain insured surgical services from private providers. This legislation sparked a heated and ongoing debate in Canada about the role of competition in health care service delivery. The key question asked is what can be gained from introducing competition among hospital and physician services while maintaining a public payment system. This paper evaluates what has been learned from the recent literature on competition in health care markets in the context of expanding the role of the private sector in Alberta. The evidence does not provide a definitive answer. Competition introduced by an expanded private sector is likely to be beneficial on some measures, indifferent on others, but not likely bad.
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spelling doaj.art-64bb104065b6439cac95dd5b1a2b0a1a2023-08-04T15:53:28ZengUniversity of CalgaryThe School of Public Policy Publications2560-83122560-83202009-11-012Competition in Canadian Health Care Service Provision: Good, Bad or Indifferent?Jane E. Ruseski0University of Alberta Most provincial health care systems in Canada combine public, private non-profit, and private for-profit delivery. In Alberta, the Health Care Protection Act , known as Bill 11, allows the public to purchase certain insured surgical services from private providers. This legislation sparked a heated and ongoing debate in Canada about the role of competition in health care service delivery. The key question asked is what can be gained from introducing competition among hospital and physician services while maintaining a public payment system. This paper evaluates what has been learned from the recent literature on competition in health care markets in the context of expanding the role of the private sector in Alberta. The evidence does not provide a definitive answer. Competition introduced by an expanded private sector is likely to be beneficial on some measures, indifferent on others, but not likely bad. https://dev.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/sppp/article/view/42326
spellingShingle Jane E. Ruseski
Competition in Canadian Health Care Service Provision: Good, Bad or Indifferent?
The School of Public Policy Publications
title Competition in Canadian Health Care Service Provision: Good, Bad or Indifferent?
title_full Competition in Canadian Health Care Service Provision: Good, Bad or Indifferent?
title_fullStr Competition in Canadian Health Care Service Provision: Good, Bad or Indifferent?
title_full_unstemmed Competition in Canadian Health Care Service Provision: Good, Bad or Indifferent?
title_short Competition in Canadian Health Care Service Provision: Good, Bad or Indifferent?
title_sort competition in canadian health care service provision good bad or indifferent
url https://dev.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/sppp/article/view/42326
work_keys_str_mv AT janeeruseski competitionincanadianhealthcareserviceprovisiongoodbadorindifferent