Methods of Cost Containment: Some Lessons from Europe

Publication Date: June 2003

Publisher:

Author(s): Julian Le Grand

Research Area: Health

Type: Other

Abstract:

London School of Economics Professor Julian Le Grand presented Methods of Cost Containment: Some Lessons from Europe at a June 2003 workshop held in San Francisco titled "Trade-Offs in Controlling Health Care Costs: What Can California Learn from the World?" At the workshop, which was part of the International Health Economics Association's Fourth World Congress, Le Grand discussed cost control mechanisms employed throughout the world, the trade-offs they present, and how countries have dealt with them. Methods of Cost Containment examines the strategies employed by European countries, which have focused primarily on the expenditure of public funds to contain health care costs. However, some of the generalizations derived from studying these measures are applicable to other countries and states, including those with different funding systems.