In the US, public insurers such as Medicare are forbidden by law from applying formal health technology assessments – and in particular, cost-effectiveness analyses –in deciding whether to cover new health technologies, no matter how expensive. By contrast, in Beveridge countries, centralized health technology assessment is required before the public health care system will cover expensive new technologies. What is the nature of the social costs associated with covering a new technology in a Beveridge public health care system? What is the nature of the social costs associated with not covering a new technology in such a system? What economic problem does centralized health technology assessment partially address?