ABSTRACT
The key to finding possible gains in efficiency is information about what is really going on in the health services. The private sector of health services plays a considerable role in the health systems of both developed and developing countries. The provision of health services cannot simply be handed over to the private sector because of the substantial imperfections of the health market. Competition in health care is by no means a new idea, though it has been given revived popularity in the writings of Alain Enthoven in the United States. The central aim is to achieve the efficient use of resources by creating price competition between insurers, by the latter in turn creating competition between providers and by integrating the financing of each insured person’s health and social care. Under the new Thailand health insurance scheme, those who are insured make a choice of hospital.
