Acknowledgments1 IntroductionThe Policy Environment2 Prospective Payment System: DevelopmentHospital Cost ContainmentA Decisive Turning PointA Decade of DevelopmentDeveloping a ProposalLegislating the Prospective Payment SystemInitial ImplementationChronology: Prospective Payment SystemNotes3 Prospective Payment System: ImplementationImplementation ActivitiesSubstantive PolicyPPS: The FutureChronology: ImplementationNotes4 Physician Payment Reform: BackgroundMedicare: Early ImplementationThe Reagan AdministrationAction by CongressChronological: Physicians Payment: BackgroundNotes5 Physicians Payment: Designing the SystemIntroduction— The PPRCPolitics and the DeficitElements of a Fee ScheduleLegislating the Medicare Fee ScheduleChronology: Physician Payment: Designing the SystemNotes6 ConclusionTwo Payment Reforms: Alike and Not AlikeMedicare and the American Political SystemNotesGlossaryTermsMajor LegislationSelected BibliographyIndex