Free Trade and Markets in Healthcare: Lessons From Asian Countries

It is widely recognized that the global liberalization of trade in goods over the last several decades has driven unprecedented increases in productivity, innovation and living standards. However, many policymakers remain reluctant to open up services such as healthcare to international trade and internal competition, because of the fear that it will dismantle state healthcare systems and sow division and social inequality. The healthcare sectors of many emerging markets even those in the dynamic free-trading countries of Asia remain relatively insulated from outside ideas and capital. Governments remain wedded to the idea that "Universal Health Care" requires the state to take the dominant role in the allocation and provision of health goods and services. As a result of such thinking, the majority of healthcare systems in Asia remain parochial, sleepy and ineffective compared to other growth sectors.