Cost Management

Hospital care remains the largest single category of health care spending, illustrating hospitals’ central role in providing care for the most acutely ill and injured patients. Understanding the drivers of spending is critical to shaping health care policies that will moderate cost growth without…
Medicare continues to struggle to create payment mechanisms that provide the right balance of incentives to ensure an appropriate level of access to new technology for beneficiaries while managing overall program costs.
This edition of TrendWatch examines the benefits and costs of new technology and the challenges of establishing coverage and payment policies in an era of rapid technological advancement.