Page 162 - Human Rights

Faculty of Nursing
Adult care Nursing Department

The delegation of policy-making powers to IRAs is justifiable to enforce healthcare policies that

would otherwise be difficult to implement.

Following up on this argument, it is reasonable to assume that the government’s role is to regulate

the provision of goods that are socially relevant, such as healthcare.

In other words, the regulatory state has the task of controlling what would otherwise only be

market forces (Malone 1994).

For example, an independent regulatory agency regulates both private and public hospitals,
although it belongs to the public sphere.

Pluralistic competition among providers, often found in traditional purchaser provider splits and

free-market systems, is not intrinsically inconsistent with the principles of equity, efficiency, and

responsiveness (Khaleghi an and Gupta 2005).

However, market failure can lead to unacceptable consequences in healthcare that require
effective regulation.

Managed competition is itself a function of regulation, both in principle and in the traditional

healthcare policy sense of a purchasing strategy that balances the competing demands of payers

and users.

However, independent agencies can go even further in the control of the system.

Independent regulators can avoid potential negative consequences, such as unjust discrimination

of patients who need access to medical services.

For example, since the creation of the National Health Service (NHS) in Britain and elsewhere,

unsurprisingly, direct government regulation through the direct intervention of public officials has

played a major role in regulation.

140 Academic Year 2025/2026