Quelle place pour la concurrence dans le secteur hospitalier?

In most European countries hospital care is funded through prospective payment systems with regulated prices. Hospitals compete in quality to attract patients. The welfare effects of competition are widely discussed in the economic literature. In France the payment rule has been criticized for giving hospitals excessive incentives to compete and insufficient incentives to cooperate. In response to these critics, a reform passed in 2015 has mandated close cooperation between public hospitals. Whether potential synergies will materialize and care quality will improve remains to be seen. Finding a better balance between competition and coordination in the hospital sector is a challenge for regulators.