Going private : why people pay for their health care
- Title
- Going private : why people pay for their health care / Michael Calnan, Sarah Cant, and Jonathan Gabe.
- Published by
- Buckingham ; Philadelphia : Open University Press, 1993.
- Author
Items in the library and off-site
Displaying 1 item
Status | Format | Access | Call number | Item location |
---|---|---|---|---|
Status | FormatText | AccessUse in library | Call numberRA395.G6 C35 1993 | Item locationOff-site |
Details
- Additional authors
- Description
- x, 113 p.; 22 cm.
- Summary
- Private Health insurance is currently at its highest level in Britain since the introduction of the National Health Service. Approximately one in seven of the population has some form of health cover. It is often claimed that the growth in private health insurance is due to the 'underfunding' of the NHS. This important book sheds new light on this controversial issue and examines the reasons why people take out private health insurance when the National Health Service is available.
- Drawing on empirical evidence from a unique study carried out in the affluent South East of England, the authors address a number of neglected questions such as when and why do subscribers make use of their subscriptions, and what do they think of private health care compared to the care received from the NHS?
- Using in-depth interviews with those who hold private health policies and those who do not, the authors go on to examine the claim that private health insurance automatically leads to a greater 'choice' of health care. The book concludes with a chapter on the resulting sociological and policy implications particularly in the light of recent NHS reforms. As privatization remains high on the health policy agenda, this book makes a timely contribution to the on-going debate.
- . Written in a clear accessible style, Going Private will appeal to health researchers and policymakers alike.
- Series statement
- State of health series
- Uniform title
- State of health series.
- Subject
- Contents
- 1. Introduction. Developments in the private health-care sector since 1948. Explanations for the expansion of the private health-care market. Introducing the study -- 2. A typical private health insurance subscriber. The subscribers. The typical subscriber? -- 3. Principle and practice. Individual subscribers. Company subscribers. Non-subscribers. Opting out of the NHS? -- 4. The use of private health insurance. Patterns of use. Lay decision-making and use -- 5. Private health insurance as a consumption good. A new social cleavage? Establishing the patient as 'customer'. Designation as a consumption good -- 6. Conclusion. Sociological implications. Policy implications.
- Owning institution
- Columbia University Libraries
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (p. [103]-107) and index.