Why Personal Responsibility and Competition Do Not Reduce Total Spending in Health Care

Abstract

In this study, Health Transformation Program is discussed with reference to neo-classical health economics. The Ministry of Health (MoH), in order in order to control rapidly rising healthcare costs, has begun to shift to practices that increase the personal responsibility of patients, albeit partly. Additionally, MoH introduced performance-based pay when procuring services from public and private hospitals in order to improve productivity. Health professionals in Turkey point out that healthcare is a social right, and should not be restricted based on ability to pay. In fact, there is neither theoretical nor empirical support in neo-classical health economics literature that supports either personal responsibility of patients or performance- based pay to service providers.