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HEALTH CARE RATIONING AND COST CONTAINMENT ARE NOT SYNONYMOUS
Author(s) -
Reagan Michael D.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
review of policy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1541-1338
pISSN - 1541-132X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-1338.1989.tb01121.x
Subject(s) - rationing , denial , control (management) , health care , containment (computer programming) , health care rationing , economics , actuarial science , public economics , business , law and economics , computer science , psychology , economic growth , management , psychoanalysis , programming language
Much public discussion about health care assumes, explicitly or implicitly, that only by denial of potentially beneficial care (called “rationing”) can cost containment be achieved. This piece critically examines the various current usages of “rationing,” and argues that it is being misapplied. Fur‐ ther, the call for rationing may be deflecting us from fruitful exploration of non‐rationing alternatives to cost control. Two of these are briefly sketched as examples: physician fee controls and practice guidelines.