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March 1977 (Volume 55)
Quarterly Article
Katharine G. Bauer
Sep 22, 2026
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More than a quarter of the nation’s acute care hospitals are regulated in their rate setting by diverse and disparate statewide programs. Evidence to date raises questions about the primitive state of an art which may yet emerge at the core of federal government efforts to contain costs. Prospective rate setting proponents-reacting against inflationary “reasonable cost” reimbursement formulae-expect that efficiency will flow from keeping spending within the limits of anticipated revenues. But incompatible purposes and incomplete methodologies have not yet yielded solid evidence for a coherent public policy.
Author(s): Katharine G. Bauer
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Volume 55, Issue 1 (pages 117–158) Published in 1977