Private healthcare
Private healthcare or private medicine is healthcare and medicine provided by entities other than the government. The term is generally used more in Europe and other countries which have publicly funded health care, to differentiate the arrangement from systems where private healthcare is the norm.
Ethical issues relating to private healthcare primarily concerns the argument that the seriously ill be entitled to spend money on saving their lives. On the other hand, private healthcare can sometimes be more efficient than public sector provision. Private operators may be more innovative in areas such as telemedicine. Due to the profit motive, they can be more productive. Public healthcare tends to be limited by the amount of tax that individuals are willing to pay.
Some would argue that private healthcare needs to be more carefully regulated to ensure that it achieves standards set by the state, predominantly regarding safety, value, and efficiency.
Others would argue such regulation is unnecessary and likely to increase costs.