Is There a Border Between the Public and Private Sectors in Health Care?

Abstract

Diseases and their treatment affect the economy and the society by means of complicated transmission mechanisms. They include costs of treatment, i.e. direct costs, and indirect costs, i.e. lost GDP. Their impact on public finance revenues and expenditures should also be taken into account. Due to the importance of the problem of health as well as the quality and efficiency of the operation of the health care system, additional measures like a deadweight loss and a loss of wellbeing are considered. The effects of the mutual interaction of health and economic growth cannot be overlooked. The complexity of the on-going processes is further exacerbated as a result of the influence of the public and private sectors, which cannot be clearly demarcated in health care.

Keywords

• health care
• indirect costs
• deadweight loss
• loss of well-being
• economic growth