Over the past 6 decades, U.S. policy makers have tried numerous strategies to control health care costs and spending, from hospital rate regulation to high deductible health plans. To date, these strategies have been largely unsuccessful and your task for this essay is to assess why these cost control measures have to date been unsuccessful. Among the reasons you will consider include (but are not limited to): Reform efforts have not considered underlying causes of illness and therefore the demand for health care Policies have focused on prices and not costs Inadequate attention has been paid to the supply side, ensuring that there is adequate supply to meet demand