Commercial and corporate provision of healthcare, capitalism and the state

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 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 UK state’s efforts to enhance overseas trade in private healthcare. The 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.