Containing health care costs--a critical test of the public-private joint venture in health.

As the federal government shifted from its traditional roles in health to the payment for personal health care, the relationship between public and private sectors has deteriorated. Today federal and state revenue funds and trusts are the largest purchasers of services from a predominantly private health system. This financing or "gap-filling" role is essential; so too is the purchaser's concern for the costs and prices it must meet. The cost per person for personal health care in 1980 is expected to average $950, triple for the aged. Hospital costs vary considerably and inexplicably among states; California residents, for example, spend 50 percent more per year for hospital care than do state of Washington residents. The failure of each sector to understand the other is potentially damaging to the parties and to patients. First, and most important, differences can and must be moderated through definite changes in the attitudes of the protagonists.