META-ANALYSIS OF RELEVANT LITERATURE REGARDING
THE SYSTEMS OUTCOMES OF PRIVATE & PUBLIC HEALTH CARE
Statement of the Problem & Study Purpose
The literature has reported that the health care system needs to include both public and private health care, rather than the exclusive use of one or the other (Oss, 2000). Individual studies regarding U.S. and other health care systems report positive and negative aspects of public and private systems, but this information typically confuses economic, procedural, and emotional factors. For example, the Canadian health-care system, a public health care system, offers examples of public health care problems such as the medical care becoming a civil service monopoly with demonstrations of "cruel indifference" (Amiel, 2000, p. 17). There are benefits and pitfalls of private health care reported as well. Although private care brings with it a full array of medical assistance, it is also fraught with problems, such as the use of unnecessary medical procedures, which are overcome with the managed care system (Reinhardt, 1999). Managed care systems in the U.S. have been a factor in the reduction of American health spending, and these systems are found in both the public and private sectors; 78% of Americans with private or public health insurance are enrolled in a managed behavioral health plan (Findlay, 1999). However, it is reported that these savings are not without costs. Limitations of the managed care industry include rationing and a lack of open-ended health care. Medicare's use of managed care systems incurs further outcome limitations.
In addition, the health care system includes both physical and mental health aspects which must be considered. Oss (2000) points out that the health care system is facing changing times. For example, previously, individuals who suffered from behavioral disorders or disabilities were served only by programs funded publicly. More curren...