Περίληψη:
Private health insurance can play a significant role in the financing
and delivery of health services in relatively undeveloped health systems
which suffer from limited public expenditures, resource shortages, and
quality of care problems. Research results, however, indicate that
private health insurance in Greece has not yet assumed that role. The
rapid increase of private health insurance was the result of
underfinancing by the public sector and restrictive policies for the
private sector. The private sector, however, largely financed by private
health insurance, found alternative investment and profit opportunities,
which, unfortunately, did not improve health system microeconomic
efficiency. In this paper we propose that a way of cooperation could
exist between the public sector and private health insurance, which
would improve public health services provision and the overall
technical, allocative and dynamic efficiency of the health system.
