Introduction In the late 1990s, healthcare cost inflation began to slowly decline after a sharp increase in the early part of the decade. The patient population at the time hoped that the various policies and programs implemented by government, employers, and insurers in the 1990s to control costs would continue to moderate overall increases for the year to come. That hasn't been the case, and now rising healthcare costs are once again a major issue for patients seeking medical care. During the 2000s, the average annual health insurance premium in the private sector increased dramatically to $2,655 for single coverage and $6,772 for family coverage, an increase of 33.3 percent and 36.7% since 1996, according to new Medical Expenditure data. Panel Survey, conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ, 2000). In today's society many policymakers are looking for ways to decrease current levels of growth without reducing access to necessary medical care services, while at the same time without creating burdens on the patient population. In many cases, however, organizations are looking to past strategies to reduce costs. Many healthcare organizations are exploring new approaches that hold promise for reducing the cost of medical care. The future of healthcare in the United States will need to focus on implementing cost-cutting systems to improve overall costs for patients. There is great disappointment with the current medical system at the moment. This is what emerges from a recent Harris Poll, which showed that 56% of the public, 46% of doctors, 48%... middle of paper... strategies to reduce overall costs in the system sector healthcare in recent years. A great example of this form of cost reduction is cost sharing. At this point we must make individuals pay part of the costs of medical care. Getting more people to pay a greater share of medical care costs themselves will help control healthcare costs by making patients more informed about the price of their healthcare. There are also other options such as hospital mergers and flexible spending accounts, but these are not always successful. In some cases, cost sharing and changing economic conditions may have been responsible for the success or failure of different strategies. For now, however, cost sharing can be seen as a viable option for reducing the cost of healthcare in the United States while still providing quality patient care..