ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 contains the theoretical characteristics of the functioning of a public system. This type of system does not operate on the basis of the laws of the market (profit and loss mechanism); therefore, it must be based on a number of regulations and interventions concerning, inter alia, issues such as the scope of guaranteed benefits or sources of financing. In the case of the system’s failures, increasing expenditure is often proposed to improve its functioning – such solutions do not have real competition (i.e. an ineffective project does not fail and is not replaced by more efficient entities than those on the market). Moreover, in a public health system, patients become more petitioners than clients – they have no freedom to dispose of their funds. This type of system is naturally also characterized by considerable bureaucracy.
