Rising health care costs: The contradictory responses of the Malaysian state

All developed nations are facing the challenge of rising health care costs today. One extreme example is the United States where total health spending as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) rose from 6.9 per cent in 1970, to 13.3 per cent in 2000, 14.1 per cent in 2001 and then to 14.9 per cent in 2002. Between 2001 and 2002, national health expenditures rose 9.3 per cent to reach the astonishing figure of US$1.6 trillion (Sethi and Fronstin 2004). Many West European governments also perceive rising health care costs to be a major problem and have responded by introducing various cost containment strategies (Mossialos and Le Grand 1999).