Commercial and Corporate Provision of Healthcare, Capitalism and the State.

Λεπτομέρειες βιβλιογραφικής εγγραφής
Τίτλος: Commercial and Corporate Provision of Healthcare, Capitalism and the State.
Συγγραφείς: Fox NJ; Department of Social and Psychological Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, UK.
Πηγή: Sociology of health & illness [Sociol Health Illn] 2026 Mar; Vol. 48 (3), pp. e70155.
Τύπος έκδοσης: Journal Article
Γλώσσα: English
Στοιχεία περιοδικού: Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 8205036 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1467-9566 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01419889 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Sociol Health Illn Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s): Publication: <2003->: Oxford ; Malden, MA : Blackwell Publishing
Original Publication: Henley-on-Thames ; Boston, Mass. : Routledge & Kegan Paul
Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): Delivery of Health Care*/organization & administration , Delivery of Health Care*/economics , Private Sector* , Capitalism* , Politics* , Commerce*, Humans ; United Kingdom ; Privatization ; Social Justice ; Public Sector ; Commodification
Περίληψη: This paper explores the role of the capitalist state in promoting the commercial and corporate provision of healthcare (CCPH). First, it reviews the breadth of CCPH in contemporary liberal democracies and identifies its strengths and weaknesses for the delivery of public health. It then explores the part that the capitalist state plays in supporting and extending the private provision of healthcare in the era of globalising capitalism. This is achieved through a secondary analysis of data from a recent study of the United Kingdom state's efforts to enhance overseas trade in private healthcare. This paper concludes with a discussion of the privatisation and commodification of healthcare, the role of the liberal democratic state in promoting both public and private healthcare and what this means for health inequalities and social justice, both within developed countries and globally.
(© 2026 The Author(s). Sociology of Health & Illness published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness.)
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Grant Information: ES/S010920/1 Economic and Social Research Council
Contributed Indexing: Keywords: capitalism; commercial provision of healthcare; neoliberalism; private healthcare; state
Entry Date(s): Date Created: 20260305 Date Completed: 20260710 Latest Revision: 20260710
Update Code: 20260711
PubMed Central ID: PMC12963035
DOI: 10.1111/1467-9566.70155
PMID: 41787229
Βάση Δεδομένων: MEDLINE
Περιγραφή
ISSN:1467-9566
DOI:10.1111/1467-9566.70155