ABSTRACT
Proposals to expand health insurance coverage are almost always accompanied by proposals to control growth in health spending. Some say that universal coverage cannot be achieved without cost containment, others that real cost savings will not be feasible without universal coverage. These arguments are considered below. Whether or not coverage expansion and cost controls are inseparable, it is likely that how society goes about covering the uninsured may have implications for the feasibility of different approaches for controlling costs, and vice versa.
