Private healthcare exists in almost every country in the world. In some countries with private healthcare, the private sector is designed to run alongside public funding of healthcare. This situation is the case in many developed countries where publicly-funded health cover is adequate for most day-to-day medical issues. In other nations without universal healthcare, ‘private’ healthcare may be the only option. In fact, the term ‘private healthcare’ is not even used in some nations, as it may be the only way to receive medical attention.

In developed countries with private healthcare, public and private healthcare usually run side by side, with ‘public’ and ‘private’ patients often housed in the same facilities, although hospitals solely for the use of patients with private healthcare do exist. However, in some public hospitals in countries such as the United Kingdom, ‘amenity beds’ exist for those with private health cover. Amenity beds are usually more comfortable rooms or wards designed for those with a higher ability to pay, usually those with private health cover. Although the patients in amenity beds are receiving treatment from publicly-funded healthcare professionals such as physicians, nurses and surgeons, with surgery carried out in the same room as public patients, the hospital will receive direct funding from a private health insurance company, with a reduced cost to the government.

In some countries, such as the United States, private healthcare may be the only option for the vast majority of the population. Although some exceptions do exist for those exhibiting the most need, most United States citizens have private health insurance or pay for their use of medical services ‘out of their own pocket’ (i.e. using their personal funds). In other countries with private healthcare, the public system of healthcare may be so underfunded and overstretched that for many, private healthcare is the only option for the ill to receive medical attention in a timely and efficient manner.

As demonstrated, the functions of the private health sector in countries with private healthcare vary considerably. From the ‘two-tiered’ system existing in the United Kingdom to the ‘user-pays’ system of the United States, it is clear that the level of private healthcare in a nation depends on that nation’s government, economy and traditions.

Filed under: Health Care by Don