Medicaid & Other Experiments in State Health Policy

States, like the federal government and employers, are seeking to control their health care expenditures, particularly under Medicaid-the joint federal-state program for the poor. New ways are being considered to use health care resources more cost effectively while ensuring beneficiaries the same, if not better, access to care.

This book examines two experiments in Massachusetts, outlining some of the key elements of their successes and failures. It also examines a different approach to cost containment-the development of the global hospital budgeting system.

Several other Medicaid experiments that seek to control the rate of increase in expenditures and to increase patients' access to care are examined. In addition, the authors discuss Medicaid reforms designed to redress inequities among beneficiaries and taxpayers. The book's last chapter summarizes a conference on models of cost containment in the public sector.