TY  - JOUR
AU  - Fuchs,Victor R.
TI  - Paying the Piper, Calling the Tune:  Implications of Changes in Reimbursement
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 1605
PY  - 1985
Y2  - April 1985
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w1605
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w1605.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Victor R. Fuchs
796 Cedro Way
Stanford, CA  94305
Tel: 650/326-7639
Fax: 650/328-4163
E-Mail: vfuchs@stanford.edu
M2  - featured in NBER digest on 1985-09-01
AB  - The United States is in the midst of a revolution in health care finance, the third since the end of World War II. Medicare's prospective payment system (PPS) based on diagnosis-related groups (DRGs), the State of California's hospital-specific contracts for Medi-Cal patients, deductibles and coinsurance, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and preferred provider organizations (PPOs) are among the best known symbols of the new era in health care finance. This paper analyzes the economic factors responsible for innovations in reimbursement, discusses the distinguishing characteristics of the new methods, and examines their potential impact on hospitals, physicians, nurses, and patients. The paper concludes by considering some fundamental problems of public policy with respect to health care.
ER  -