Antidote: Strategies for Containing America's Runaway Health Care Costs
Document Type Book
Abstract
Soaring healthcare costs have put medical spending at the top of the national agenda and in the spotlight of the 2008 elections. Both the public and private spheres are struggling with this urgent problem. Medicare and Medicaid spending are straining federal and state budgets, private employers are abandoning coverage or shifting costs to workers and their families, and firms that provide generous coverage are risking their competitiveness in the global economy. Meanwhile, nearly 50 million uninsured Americans remain hostage to uncontrolled health costs, while the combustible combination of third-party payments and technological advances continues to fuel spending.
Quality and value in health care provision are receiving increasing attention, but robust proposals to limit medical spending over the long term are not yet part of the health policy debate.
Antidote addresses why past efforts to contain costs have failed and proposes a fresh set of solutions to America’s medical cost conundrum. Anyone concerned about rising medical costs and health policy will benefit from this state-of-the-art volume written by a diverse group of leading experts.