Committee on the Costs of Medical Care

The group became known as the "Committee of Five" due to the dominance of Johns Hopkins Hospital Director Winford Henry Smith, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Professor Lewellys F. Barker, Brookings Institution economist Walton Hale Hamilton, Yale School of Public Health Professor Charles-Edward Amory Winslow, and health policy analyst Michael M. Davis.

Observing that the prevalence of recorded illness increased alongside household income, the CCMC concluded that financial access to the American health care system was offering better diagnostic services to the upper-class.

Furthermore, the average expense for hospitalized illnesses also increased alongside household income, reinforcing the idea that the American health care system offered additional treatment to the upper-class.

The minority claimed that elevating general practitioners over other health care professionals and eliminating corporate ownership of medical facilities would lower costs.

[7] On the 25th and 40th anniversaries of the CCMC's final report, Falk published retrospective articles analyzing how the group's recommendations have continued to shape American health care policy.