Abstract

Private health insurance is a domain of mutually conflicting models of healthcare systems. Most European healthcare systems are built upon the principles of solidarity and equality, and are provided by public entities. But the private health insurance market can threaten these values, limiting solidarity, equality and universality for the sake of cost effectiveness, consumer choice and market competition. The aim of this article is to analyse these risks and present mechanisms for their mitigation, which would allow the construction of effective and socially acceptable models, or private-public partnerships, in this domain.