Supplemental Data is available for this issue:

[Original Table of Contents for this issue]

From The Editor

'Narrative Matters': Binding Health Policy And Personal Experience John K. Iglehart [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Journal Article

Purchasing Medicare prescription drug benefits: a new proposal L Etheredge [Abstract] [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Perspective: A Drug Benefit: The Necessary Prescription For Medicare John Rother [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Perspective: Covering Prescription Drugs Under Medicare: For The Good Of The Patients Alan F. Holmer [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Moving Medicare to the FEHBP model, or how to make an elephant fly H P Cain, II [Abstract] [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Should Medicare HMO benefits be standardized? P D Fox, R Snyder, G Dallek, and T Rice [Abstract] [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Performance of the '100 top hospitals': what does the report card report? J Chen, M J Radford, Y Wang, T A Marciniak, and H M Krumholz [Abstract] [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Legal challenges to managed care cost containment programs: an initial assessment P D Jacobson [Abstract] [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Health Tracking

The Next Decade Of Health Spending: A New Outlook Sheila Smith, Stephen Heffler, Mark Freeland, and the National Health Expenditures Projection Team [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

HMO consolidations: how national mergers affect local markets R D Feldman, D R Wholey, and J B Christianson [Abstract] [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Pooled purchasing: who are the players? S H Long and M S Marquis [Abstract] [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Changing the employer-sponsored health plan system: the views of employees in large firms J R Lave, P B Peele, J T Black, J H Evans, III, and G Amersbach [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Narrative Matters

Me and the system: the personal essay and health policy F Mullan [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

DataWatch

Uncompensated care and hospital conversions in Florida J Needleman, J Lamphere, and D Chollet [Abstract] [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Physicians' perceptions of autonomy and satisfaction in California M D Burdi and L C Baker [Abstract] [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Where are the missing elders? The decline in nursing home use, 1985 and 1995 C E Bishop [Abstract] [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Income levels of bad-debt and free-care patients in Massachusetts hospitals J S Weissman, P Dryfoos, and K London [Abstract] [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

GrantWatch

The Children's Health Council: a community foundation/state government partnership C H Hall, M A Lee, and J Solomon [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Grants And Grant Outcomes [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

UpDate

Hidden assets: health insurance reform in New Jersey K Swartz and D W Garnick [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Three political realities in expanding coverage for the working poor: one state's experience E D Kinney, M Tai-Seale, J Y Greene, R Murray, and W Tierney [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Publications & Reports [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Book Reviews

Is privacy the enemy of public health? George J Annas [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Letters

Who Says Teaching Hospitals Are Thriving? Jordan J. Cohen [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Are Teaching Hospitals Thriving? The Authors Respond Gerard F. Anderson, George Greenberg, and Craig K. Lisk [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Anecdotes: The Author Responds David A. Rochefort [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Socially Bounded Competition In Germany Klaus-Dirk Henke [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

'Manacled Competition': The Authors Respond Lawrence D. Brown and Volker E. Amelung [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

A Critique Of Mental Health Cost-Offset Research J.R. Slosar [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Mental Health Cost Critique: The Authors Respond Mark Olfson and Herbert J. Schlesinger [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Medicare And Competition Jeffrey S. McCombs [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

More On Mental Health Cost Offsets Mary Jane England [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

HEDIS Data Integrity Margaret E. O'Kane [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

Guidelines for Authors