Perspective Chapter: Including the Private Sector to Achieve Universal Health Coverage

Abstract

In implementing Universal Health Coverage (UHC), public healthcare financing is the dependable mechanisms to ensure equity and to minimize catastrophic health spending. However, public financing often creates long queueing and low satisfaction of the community and is less responsive to the demand from the public. On the other hand, the private sector has advantages in responding to the demand of the patients, higher efficiencies, and having higher customer or patient satisfaction. The combination of the two sectors is the best in achieving UHC. The government must provide and regulate the room for the private sector. However, the private sector has limitations in developing services because of obstacles in providing appropriate healthcare for everyone without conflicting with the business goals. In general, there are three roles of the private sector to be adopted in the health system of countries to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare, provide options, facilitate higher satisfaction for patients, increase private sector opportunities to participate in providing health services, that potentially establish competition that will improve the quality of services.