The re-emergence of regulatory intervention in American health policy

This article analyzes the regulatory alternative, as embodied in PL 98-21, and the competitive solution to the problem of controlling the costs of health care. It suggests that neither alternative is likely to restrain these expenditures and that both may exacerbate inequities in the distribution of health services. It also identifies a need to implement the policy option of applying the principles of prospective payment comprehensively to all patients, institutions, and "hospital related" services such as those provided by surgeons, radiologists, and anesthesiologists.