Health Care | Chapter 2 Preface

In the 1970s the United States was rapidly sliding into a recession, and medical spending was growing faster than the economy. Medicare (which provides basic health care for the elderly and disabled) and Medicaid (which provides health care for low-income individuals) were both signed into law in 1965 and proved to be expensive. The medical insurance available to most Americans not covered by either government program was a traditional plan that typically paid whatever their doctor or hospital charged. No one—not the patient, the doctor, or the hospitals—had any incentive to control...

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