La necesidad de la competencia en la prestación de salud dentro de la Seguridad Social.

Abstract

In recent years, the Ecuadorian Social Security System has faced serious problems in its various branches, especially in the area of health. The 'rights-guaranteeing' approach adopted by Ecuadorian legislation attributes to the State monopolistic powers that do not always fulfill their purpose of safeguarding the general welfare, thus violating constitutional rights inherent to the dignity of the user: in this case, rights such as health and life. The current Social Security model has notorious repercussions on the level of satisfaction obtained by the affiliate; however, there are still stigmas when talking about the intervention of private operators in public spheres. Alternatively, there are trends and models that counteract this statist vision, and rather emphasize the importance of a balance between the State and private parties in the pursuit of the general interest. Competition law offers a different vision to the existing alternatives to address unsatisfied user rights. It is time to begin to integrate into the traditional fields of law other notions that will create a positive change in the addressees of legal rules. If the same criteria of competitiveness, existence of incentives and efficiency applied by private economic operators were applied at the public level, it would be possible to comply with the real purposes demanded by the right to social security translated into an efficient provision of health care based on criteria of efficiency and freedom of choice.