** Paying for Medicare received the American Risk and Insurance Association's Elizur Wright Award for itsoutstanding contribution to risk management and insurance literature.

The Prospective Payment System and the Medicare Fee Schedule, two of the most effectively sustained and successful efforts at policy innovation in history continue to shape decisions about Medicare and cost containment efforts.

Smith shows how particular policy alternatives were developed; why chosen or rejected; and how provider interests and American political institutions have shaped their design and implementation.