Managed competition: the policy context.

In order to maintain universal access to medically effective care for all, costs must be contained at both the system-wide and micro levels. The managed competition model offers a framework within which increased efficiency could be pursued without sacrificing the goal of universal access and without impairing health outcomes and social cohesion. It would do this by removing structural impediments to rational decision-making and allocating to markets and governments the functions they perform best.