Facing Capacity Constraints in Universal Healthcare Systems

Escalating healthcare spending is one of the largest fiscal challenges facing developed countries. As populations age and new treatments emerge, demand for healthcare will continue to rise, putting pressure on universal healthcare systems that already face capacity constraints.

A key challenge will be expanding capacity without overstretching public budgets. One proposed solution is increased reliance on privately financed healthcare providers.

Is privately financed healthcare the solution to preserving Europe’s universal systems, or part of the problem pushing them to the brink? Evidence is scarce. We know little about how patients value private versus publicly funded care, or how private markets interact with public systems on both the demand and supply side.

This project addresses these gaps by examining how privately financed healthcare affects patients, healthcare workers, and overall system capacity. The findings will inform the design of healthcare systems and the trade-offs involved in determining the scope of universal coverage and the regulation of the private market.

The project is led by Ingrid Huitfeldt, Assistant Professor at BI Norwegian Business School, together with Victoria Marone, Assistant Professor at Yale University, and Simon Bensnes, Researcher at the Frisch Centre for Economic Research.

The project also benefits from contributions by affiliated researchers at BI:

• Jon Fiva, Professor
• Christian Brinch, Professor
• Daniela Soto, PhD student
• Researchers from the London School of Economics, New York University, the University of Oslo, and the University of Texas at Austin.

This project has received support from the University of Texas at Austin and Yale University.