Health Care Cost Sharing and Cost Containment.

摘要

If cost sharing is not included in a national health insurance plan, little additional demand is likely to be generated for hospital services. By contrast, substantial demand will be generated for other services, such as physician office visits. This demand increase will probably be spread across all income classes, not concentrated among the poor. Large demand increases will cause services to be rationed. Exactly what the mechanisms for rationing will be is uncertain, but at least some of them would be considered undesirable. Therefore, if it is desired to eliminate cost sharing, a planned gradual phasing out of an initial deductible for the nonpoor appears attractive.