Grenzen des Wettbewerbs im Gesundheitswesen
Many health economists demand more competition in the health-care system. They focus on the competition between the individual health-insurance funds for those who want such insurance as well as on the competition between health-care providers for contracts with the health-insurance funds. However, they neglect the competition between health-care providers for patients; such competition is crucial for medical quality. This latter area of competition is in conflict with the two former ones. The empirical evidence on the effects of competition on cost and quality are also ambiguous. Thus, the mere appeal for „more competition“ does not do justice to the highly complex nature of the health-care system.
