Consumer channeling in health care: (im) possible?

In several countries major health care reforms have been implemented in the last decades. Most of these reforms focused on a shift from supply-side regulation to a more demand-side oriented system. Managed competition can be seen as a blue print for the reforms in several European countries including the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland (Enthoven and van de Ven 2007, van de Ven 1996). With the introduction of managed competition, the structure of the health care market shifted to a more market oriented system in which third-party payers are responsible for the purchase of care. In most cou... Mehr ...