A Review of Current Health Care Funding Models

Abstract

As healthcare expenses grow, concern about how government and private agencies decide to allocate funds for healthcare resources and services also grows. Decisions for healthcare funding are not made arbitrarily but are based on sound ethical principles and practical considerations. This article is a review of 5 ethically based healthcare funding models discussed in the literature that are currently used to justify funding choices. If healthcare professionals and managers are better informed about the ethical reasoning behind funding choices, they could better determine which resource allocation alternatives to support. But where should we spend our resources? Although healthcare professionals have a duty to advocate for all healthcare recipients to receive a fair share of resources, the author concludes that our greater duty as a profession is to the good of society as a whole. Balancing allocation decisions by considering all of the competing healthcare funding models and the ethical bases for them is suggested rather than to advocate too strongly for favored models.

Doctor owned investigation and treatment facilities: a conflict of interest or a pragmatic way forward?

“…Examples include fee for service models, tax-funded models, and insurance-based schemes. 3 In my view, New Zealand is fortunate to have a mixture of both fee for service and tax-funded (e.g., capitation) models, which operate alongside our world-class, no-fault universal accident compensation system. Our structures do, to a large degree, optimise healthcare delivery, in a world where many acknowledge that the tension between value, quality and timeliness is an insoluble problem for most jurisdictions.…”

Turkish nurses’ decision making in the distribution of intensive care beds

“…These complex situations are more complicated given the current cost-orientated focus on health care resources. 7,8 This cost-orientation inevitably affects patient care. 9 We can see such a focus in Turkey's health care system in association with the new social and health insurance act, 10 by which advanced critical care services can be restricted.…”