Health care cost containment in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Since 1977, cost containment has been an integral part of health policy in the Federal Republic of Germany. The common goal of the cost-containment acts was to bring the growth of health care expenditures in line with growth of wages and salaries of sickness fund members. The Health Care Reform Act of 1989 is the most recent manifestation of this policy. The main features of the numerous cost-containment acts are described in this article, and the effects of cost containment on supply and demand are analyzed.