In most sectors of the economy, it is the seller who attempts to act a potential buyer with various inducements of price, qualit

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问题    In most sectors of the economy, it is the seller who attempts to act a potential buyer with various inducements of price, quality, and utility, and it is the buyer who makes the decision. In the health care industry, however, the doctor-patient relationship is a mirror image of the ordinary relationship between producer and consumer. Once an individual has chosen to see a physician, the physician usually makes all significant purchasing decisions: whether the patient should return "next Wednesday", whether X-rays are needed, whether drugs should be prescribed, etc.
   This is particularly significant in relation to hospital care. The physician must certify the need for hospitalization, determine what procedures will be performed, and announce when the patient may be discharged. The patient may be consulted about some of these decisions, but in the main it is the doctor’s judgments that are final. Little wonder then that in the eyes of the hospital it is the physician who is the real "consumer". As a consequence, the medical staff represents the "power centre" in hospital policy and decision-making, not the administration.
   Although usually, there are in this situation four identifiable participants--the physician, the hospital, the patient and the payer (generally an insurance carrier or government) -- the physician makes the essential decision for all of them. The hospital becomes an extension of the physician, the payer generally meets most of the bona fide bills generated by the physician/ hospital, and for the most part, the patient plays a passive role. In routine or minor illensses, or just plain worries, the patient’s options are, of course, much greater with respect to use and price. But in illnesses that are of some significance, such choice tends to evaporate. And it is for these illnesses that the bulk of the health care dollar is spent. We estimate that about 75 --80 percent of health care expenditures are determined by physicians. For this reason, economy measures directed at patients or the general public are relatively ineffective.
The author is most probably leading up to ______.

选项 A、proposal to control medical cost
B、discussion of new med
C、a comparison of hospitals and factories
D、an analysis of causes of inflation in the US

答案A

解析 作者很可能逐渐地把话题转移到建议控制医疗费上来。作者在短文末尾说,我们估计大约75%到80%的医疗费用是由医生决定的,而不是由病人决定的。由于这个原因,针对病人和大众的经济措施的效率比较低。可以断言,下文讲的事情很可能是控制医疗费用。
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