Comparing Public and Private Choices of Managed Health Care Plans: Rhetoric versus Reality

2007 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-245
Author(s):  
Christopher G. Reddick

The rhetoric is that the public sector provides broader coverage and more affordability of health benefits to its employees than the private sector. This study examines the reality of public and private health plans. It focuses specifically on the three types of managed care plans: Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO), Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO), and Point-of-Service (POS) plans. An examination of health care benefits is especially important given the double-digit rise in premiums since 2001. This article first focuses on the literature showing differences in health benefits in the public sector compared with the private sector. The literature on the factors that influence choice of managed care plans are also examined. The results reveal that public sector health care costs are slightly higher and fewer plans are offered to its employees. There are fewer alternative health care options, such as high deductible health plans and health savings accounts, as compared with what is offered by the private sector. In addition, the logistic regression results reveal that there are significant differences between the public and private sectors in types of plans offered, controlling for organizational and community factors, characteristics of health care plans, and opinions of human resources (HR) managers on controlling costs.

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adalberto Campos Fernandes ◽  
Alexandre Morais Nunes

The Portuguese health system has been characterized by the existence of a constant relationship between public and private sector, both in providing and financing health care. In recent decades, the private sector increased their responsiveness of care, extending the engagement in the relationship with the public sector. This relationship stems from the legal framework set out in the law, developing agreements, conventions and more recently through the model of public-private partnerships. In hospital network, this new dynamic relationship contributed, in the last two decades, to accentuate the mixed characteristics of the system, through a clear strengthening of the private component in the hospital network, particularly by investing in differentiated units.


Pained ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 91-94
Author(s):  
Michael D. Stein ◽  
Sandro Galea

This chapter examines the assumption that CEOs may transform health care more quickly and thoroughly than the public sector has, or perhaps can. Over the past 50 years, the cultural reputation of the corporate CEO has soared. The “right” CEO can dramatically improve a private company’s performance. However, the evidence that the CEO and the private sector can actually be a force for good health remains dubious. The problem with a CEO takeover of health care is that achieving better health depends on much more than the conditions that drive the fiscal well-being of a single organization, that is, the conditions over which the CEO has the most influence. The truly important conditions are social, economic, and environmental. Improving these conditions as a means of improving health takes time and effort across a range of sectors, both public and private. A good CEO can be a welcome and important part of these efforts, but best functions as a supporting player, rather than as the focal point of what is, at heart, a collective effort.


Author(s):  
Damira Japarova

The public sector does not provide funding for the program of state guarantees. Private sector where high levels of profitability and higher prices. The purpose of public-private partnerships in health care – the preservation and improvement of the health status of the population. In Kyrgyzstan, the investment in health infrastructure of the state are planned. The private investor can build a building and provide meals for patients as required by the hospital. Require opening a public-private laboratories for urgent tests at each hospital and clinic. To finance the public-private partnership in the health sector can be used in co-financing, guarantee the payment rate for OMS services.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moumita Acharyya ◽  
Tanuja Agarwala

PurposeThe paper aims to understand the different motivations / reasons for engaging in CSR initiatives by the organizations. In addition, the study also examines the relationship between CSR motivations and corporate social performance (CSP).Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from two power sector organizations: one was a private sector firm and the other was a public sector firm. A comparative analysis of the variables with respect to private and public sector organizations was conducted. A questionnaire survey was administered among 370 employees working in the power sector, with 199 executives from public sector and 171 from private sector.Findings“Philanthropic” motivation emerged as the most dominant CSR motivation among both the public and private sector firms. The private sector firm was found to be significantly higher with respect to “philanthropic”, “enlightened self-interest” and “normative” CSR motivations when compared with the public sector firms. Findings suggest that public and private sector firms differed significantly on four CSR motivations, namely, “philanthropic”, “enlightened self-interest”, “normative” and “coercive”. The CSP score was significantly different among the two power sector firms of public and private sectors. The private sector firm had a higher CSP level than the public sector undertaking.Research limitations/implicationsFurther studies in the domain need to address differences in CSR motivations and CSP across other sectors to understand the role of industry characteristics in influencing social development targets of organizations. Research also needs to focus on demonstrating the relationship between CSP and financial performance of the firms. Further, the HR outcomes of CSR initiatives and measurement of CSP indicators, such as attracting and retaining talent, employee commitment and organizational climate factors, need to be assessed.Originality/valueThe social issues are now directly linked with the business model to ensure consistency and community development. The results reveal a need for “enlightened self-interest” which is the second dominant CSR motivation among the organizations. The study makes a novel contribution by determining that competitive and coercive motivations are not functional as part of organizational CSR strategy. CSR can never be forced as the very idea is to do social good. Eventually, the CSR approach demands a commitment from within. The organizations need to emphasize more voluntary engagement of employees and go beyond statutory requirements for realizing the true CSR benefits.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  

Purpose The authors assumed PSM would be higher in the public sector, but they set up a trial to find out if this was the case. Design/methodology/approach To test their theories, the authors conducted two independent surveys. The first consisted of 220 usable responses from public sector employees in Changsha, China. The second survey involved 260 usable responses from private sector employees taking an MBA course at a university in the Changsha district. A questionnaire was used to assess attitudes. Findings The results found no significant difference between the impact of public sector motivation (PSM) on employee performance across the public and private sectors. The data showed that PSM had a significant impact on self-reported employee performance, but the relationship did not differ much between sectors. Meanwhile, it was in the private sector that PSM had the greatest impact on intention to leave. Originality/value The authors said the research project was one of the first to test if the concept of PSM operated in the same way across sectors. It also contributed, they said, to the ongoing debate about PSM in China.


Author(s):  
Nicholas Virzi ◽  
Juan Portillo ◽  
Mariela Aguirre

The chapter will be a case study from an Ordoliberal perspective of the conception, implementation and policy output of the newly created Private Council of Competitiveness (PCC) in Guatemala, a country wracked by mistrust of the public sector by the private sector. The PCC was founded as a private sector initiative, in conjunction with academia, to work with the government to spawn new efforts aimed at augmenting Guatemala's national competitiveness, by fomenting innovation, entrepreneurship and closer ties between academia and the public and private sectors. The chapter utilizes first hand interviews with the members of the PCC and key public sector players, academics, and other top representatives from the private sector to show how working together built the trust necessary to make the PCC a successful working body with the potential to produce important initiatives in matters of competitiveness, innovation and entrepreneurship.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean D. Darling ◽  
J. Barton Cunningham

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify unique values and competencies linked to private and public sector environments. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on critical incident interviews with a sample of senior leaders who had experience in both the public and private sectors. Findings The findings illustrate distinct public and private sector relevant competencies that reflect the unique values of their organizations and the character of the organization’s environments. This paper suggests a range of distinct public sector competencies including: managing competing interests, managing the political environment, communicating in a political environment, interpersonal motivational skills, adding value for clients, and impact assessment in decision-making. These were very different than those identified as critical for the private sector environment: business acumen, visionary leadership, marketing communication, market acumen, interpersonal communication, client service, and timely and opportunistic decision-making. Private sector competencies reflect private sector environments where goals need to be specifically defined and implemented in a timely manner related to making a profit and surviving in a competitive environment. Public sector competencies are driven by environments exhibiting more complex and unresolvable problems and the need to respond to conflicting publics and serving the public good while surviving in a political environment. Originality/value A key message of this study is that competency frameworks need to be connected to the organization’s unique environments and the values that managers are seeking to achieve. This is particularly important for public organizations that have more complex and changing environments.


Author(s):  
Andreas Wörgötter ◽  
Sihle Nomdebevana

AbstractThis paper investigates the public-private remuneration patterns in South Africa with time-series methods for the first time since the introduction of an inflation-targeting framework in 2000. Co-integration tests and analysis confirm that there is a stable, long-run relationship between nominal and real remuneration in the public and private sector. The adjustment to the deviations from this long-run relationship is strong and significant for public-sector remuneration, while private-sector wages neither respond to deviations from the long-run relationship nor lagged changes in public-sector remuneration. The causal direction from private- to public-sector remuneration does not change if real earnings are calculated with the gross domestic product deflator. This is confirmed by simple Granger-causality tests.


2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT L. CLARK ◽  
MELINDA SANDLER MORRILL

AbstractWhile no longer common in the private sector, most public sector employers offer retiree health insurance (RHI) as a retirement benefit to their employees. While these plans are thought to be an important tool for employers to attract, retain, motivate, and ultimately retire workers, they represent a large and growing cost. This paper reviews what is currently known about RHI in the public sector, while highlighting many important unanswered questions. The analysis is informed by data produced in accordance with the 2004 Government Accounting Standards Board Rule 45 (GASB 45). We consider the extent of the unfunded liabilities states face and explore what factors may explain the variation in liabilities across states. The importance and sustainability of RHI plans in the public sector ultimately depend on how workers view and value this post-retirement benefit, yet little is known about how RHI directly impacts the public sector labor market. We conclude with a discussion of the future of RHI plans in the public sector.


1988 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard B Freeman

The institutional structure of the American labor market changed remarkably from the 1950s and 1960s to the 1980s. What explains the decline in union representation of private wage and salary workers? Why have unions expanded in the public sector while contracting in the private sector? Is the economy-wide fall in density a phenomenon common to developed capitalist economies, or is it unique to the United States? To what extent should economists alter their views about what unions do to the economy in light of the fact that they increasingly do it in the public sector? To answer these questions I examine a wide variety of evidence on the union status of public and private workers. I contrast trends in unionization in the United States with trends in other developed countries, particularly Canada, and use these contrasts and the divergence between unions in the public and private sectors of the United States to evaluate proposed explanations.


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