Cost-containment in health care has become an increasingly important objective for governments in most industrialised societies, irrespective of differences in systems of finance and service-delivery. Policies for cost-containment and retrenchment in the intra-mural (hospital) sector are described and compared in two ostensibly different health care systems - the mixed social insurance model in the Netherlands, and the National Health Service in England. Close similarities are observed, but the claim that cost-control and cutbacks are more easily implemented in nationalised public systems receives some support.
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