ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the relationships between the public and private sectors in financing and supporting health care provision in the UK and USA. While acknowledging the significant differences between the systems of health care, the chapter reveals similarities in the policies and patterns of organisational reform. This chapter also discusses the Care Economy – an economy that has rapidly grown over the past two decades in the UK and USA. It is argued that despite the differences between the two countries’ health systems, state-dependent employment is a characteristic of both and the state has retained (UK) or strengthened (USA) its determining role in shaping the funding and delivery of services.
