| Description |
Health care expenditures in the United States have increased at an alarming rate in recent decades (1). Between 1960 and 1982, the portion of the gross national product (GNP) devoted to health care expenditures rose; from 5.3 percent to 10.5 percent --amounting to $332 bill ion, or $1365 per person in 1982. This rapid growth in health care costs has become burdensome to both the public and private sector. The survival of public entitlement programs (e.g. Medicare and Medicaid --which alone cost $83 bill ion in 1982) is being threatened, and the private sectors desire to maintain affordable health insurance while receiving unlimited medical care is being challenged. Our nations resources are finite. Resources spent on health care cannot be used for other social and personal goods, such as education, defense, food, etc. Therefore, health care cost containment has become and promises to remain one of the major social issues of this decade. |
