David Goldhill, Columnist

Focus on Health-Care Costs Causes More Spending

January 1, 2013 at 11:30 PM UTC

David Goldhill, the president and chief executive officer of the cable TV network GSN, is the author of “Catastrophic Care: How American Health Care Killed My Father -- and How We Can Fix It.”

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

In 1983, the Ronald Reagan administration enacted one of the most significant cost reforms in Medicare’s history. The prospective payment system switched inpatient hospital reimbursement from open-ended fee-for-service to fixed fees paid per diagnosis.

In theory, this would give hospitals the incentive to treat patients as quickly and economically as possible.