The Failure to Contain Medical Costs

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Introduction

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Overview

In some ways, the future of American medical care has never looked better. Doctors routinely perform surgery that was unthinkable just two decades ago. They diagnose illnesses with machines that were unimaginable until the advent of sophisticated computers. New, increasingly effective drugs have greatly increased their ability to treat acute and chronic conditions.

Just this week, the American Council on Science and Health, a consumer health organization in New York, issued an optimistic report about the state of Americans' health: “Life expectancy has reached new highs; infant mortality has plummeted; the overall death rate has declined precipitously. Heart-disease mortality—the leading cause of death—has dropped. Even death rates from most forms of cancer … are down except for lung and skin cancer.”