Containing national healthcare costs: the German experience

In an effort to contain rapidly escalating healthcare costs, legislation to institute a form of national health insurance in the United States has been proposed. Critics argue that such a plan would only drive up costs and drive down quality. The Federal Republic of Germany has had national health insurance for almost a century, and in 1977 enacted legislation in an attempt to hold back rising costs. This report on the current German situation offers some important lessons as U.S. policymakers wrestle with this controversial issue.