title: Must we ration health care for the elderly?
abstract: Resistance to rationing health care to the elderly is enormous. This article lays out the need for rationing, based on projections of Medicare expenditure in the near future, and the judgment of policy experts that there will be no technological breakthrough that might lower costs. Various forms of rationing possibilities are discussed as well as cultural and political obstacles to needed reform. Some general principles for thinking about health care for the elderly are presented.
authors.affiliation: The Hastings Center.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Callahan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017048:Health Care Costs; D015276:Health Care Rationing / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D006278:Medicare / Q000191:economics; D011639:Public Opinion; D014481:United States