Henrik Loodin
Senior lecturer
Contradiction between management models and welfare principles in the provision of health care services - a Swedish genealogy
Author
Summary, in English
Health care currently constitute one of the largest parts of the Scandinavian welfare system, with private as well as public providers competing on a quasi-market. In order to ensure an egalitarian and safe provision of health care services this sector is governed by several policies, laws and regulations. Previous research demonstrates that these services are regulated by processes of decommodification and defamiliarization to ensure that delivery and level of welfare should not be dependent on family bonds or be determined by whims the market. But this body of research does not fully discuss the consequences of organizing health care on a quasi market.
The research aim in this paper is to examine the construction of the health care system in a historical perspective. To this end, a genealogy was conducted of government reports (SOU), laws and dominating management models organizing health care in Sweden from the beginning of the 1990s to the present.
The genealogy reveals that the implementation of management models in accordance with the terms of a quasi-market, turns the sector into a competing network of different actors with different policies and agendas. This network consists of both private and public actors competing with each other for the same resources and patients. In conclusion, the paper argues that the Swedish health care sector functions as a stratifying institution that polarizes patients, not based on their need for care, but on their position in the competing network. In the end, the competition challenges the egalitarian principles of the Scandinavian welfare system.
The research aim in this paper is to examine the construction of the health care system in a historical perspective. To this end, a genealogy was conducted of government reports (SOU), laws and dominating management models organizing health care in Sweden from the beginning of the 1990s to the present.
The genealogy reveals that the implementation of management models in accordance with the terms of a quasi-market, turns the sector into a competing network of different actors with different policies and agendas. This network consists of both private and public actors competing with each other for the same resources and patients. In conclusion, the paper argues that the Swedish health care sector functions as a stratifying institution that polarizes patients, not based on their need for care, but on their position in the competing network. In the end, the competition challenges the egalitarian principles of the Scandinavian welfare system.
Department/s
- Department of Service Studies
Publishing year
2022-08-11
Language
English
Document type
Conference paper: abstract
Topic
- Sociology
Conference name
Myths and Realities of the Nordic Welfare State
Conference date
2022-08-10 - 2022-08-12
Conference place
Reykjavik, Iceland
Status
Published