The Trouble with Rationing

Abstract

Suddenly everyone is talking about rationing. First brought to public attention in this country by Schwartz and Aaron's study of the allocation of hospital services in the United Kingdom,^{1 , 2} rationing is now widely advocated as the only effective way to control health care costs.The argument goes like this: An aging and growing population, rising public expectations, and the continual introduction of new and expensive forms of technology generate a virtually unlimited demand for medical services, which inevitably exhausts the resources we are willing and able to devote to health care. Sooner or later we will be forced to limit . . .