Rational Rationing: Impossible or Inevitable?

Abstract

Health care spending in the United States is expected to exceed $930 billion in 1993. Cost containment measures achieve one-time savings at the margins but fail to control the underlying causes of rising health care expenditures. These causes are new technology, an aging population, and high labor costs with low productivity growth. The national health care dilemma requires that we--as individuals and as a Nation--consciously and rationally decide what we expect from our future health care delivery system and how best to transform the current system. Rationing care in a rational manner is desirable contrasted to the current health care system that rations care irrationally based primarily upon one's ability to pay.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1993
Accession Number
ADA276769

Entities

People

  • Albert B. Long Iii

Organizations

  • Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Delivery Of Health Care
  • Governments
  • Health Care
  • Health Care Reform
  • Health Services
  • Hospitals
  • Medical Personnel
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Public Policy
  • Therapy
  • United States
  • United States Government
  • War Colleges

Fields of Study

  • Medicine
  • Political science

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Life Cycle Cost Analysis
  • Medical or Health Care Field.