Publicly financed competition in health care: legislative issues.

The concept of publicly financed competition serves as a possible strategy for controlling expenditures and improving the efficiency of the health care system in Ontario. Potential cost savings, although rough estimates, for a 10-year period range from $1.0 billion to $1.6 billion, depending upon the model structure. This paper investigates the assumptions and structure of a publicly financed competition proposal and addresses legislative issues concerning the feasibility and desirability of such a system.