“…Healthcare is a classical example of 'market failure' in economic theory, since health is a 'merit good' rather than a common 'consumer good' [49]. Therefore, competition is not the best instrument for addressing equity concerns, and an 'Americanization' of health, with high prevalence of private for-profit 'players' (for both funding and provision), is hardly recommendable: not by chance has the USA skyrocketing healthcare expenditure and spends far more than other wealthy nations for administration [50]. Differently, in the European health systems patients have not been historically considered common consumers, and physicians respond mainly to 'third-party payers' for healthcare expenditure.…”