We are supposed to provide all the same services and do it with less. Medicare, to its credit, is the only payer that contributes anything to the cost of medical education, and that has got to change. UCLA has already talked with several local HMOs about a premium tax to finance teaching functions. Others have suggested imposing such a surtax on all insurance premiums. Whatever happens, no one doubts the teaching hospitals will survive.
Some experts are deeply worried.
That may sound like the standard whine of anyone threatened with a cut in federal subsidy, but in this case, the consequences if he is right are dire enough to prompt some serious examination. Time Inc. All rights reserved.