Description: Because of increasing longevity in the world's population, a larger proportion of people will live long enough to develop chronic diseases. Because of their large numbers and extent of their individual expenses, the public sector will need to intervene to help these patients and their families. From Financing Chronic Care Monograph, M-HB05-1.

Description: This paper provides an outline of three potential initiatives that may be undertaken by the government and the private sector. The first initiative aims at reducing the cost of health care at the provider level. The second initiative provides a means to improve the quality of health care. The third initiative creates a constructive basis for identifying medical best practices to enhance quality.