Discussion of health care cost control in the USA has been captured by a metaphor: 'bending the curve'. The rise of this metaphor demonstrates the influence of expert thinking on policy-makers, but in this case that is not such a good thing. At the end of December 2007, the Commonwealth Fund released a report: 'Bending the Curve: Options for Achieving Savings and Improving Value in US Health Spending'.1 Before that date an internet search provides only two uses of a similar phrase in relation to USA health care from among the two leading health policy journals, Health Affairs and the New England Journal of Medicine; the two most authoritative elite sources about USA policy-making, CQ Weekly and the National Journal; and the New York Times.
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