Logical Reasoning

PT7 · S1 · Q7 Coherent solutions for the problem of

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one
Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step
81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Coherent solutions for the problem of reducing health-care costs cannot be found within the current piecemeal system of paying these costs.

Conclusion

Coherent solutions for the problem of reducing health-care costs can't be found within the current piecemeal system of paying these costs.

Evidence (the reason is that)

Health-care providers and insurers have the incentive to shift costs wherever possible onto some other party, including the patient.

We learned from reforms we tried in the 1980s that if you try cutting in one place, you get more spending elsewhere (such as when poor people were deprived of visits to physicians and so started showing up more in emergency rooms".

Evaluate

The answer to evaluate questions just has to descriptively match the argument. Usually, the correct answer has to do with one of these things:

- Analogy - (Counter)Example of a General Claim - Ruling out options - Define a term / make a distinction - Suggest an alternate explanation - Point out a dubious assumption - Raise an overlooked consideration - Point out faulty implications of logic/plan

This argument seemed to make its case by bring up a specific example.

Goal

Let's look for any answer that is descriptively true.

The argument proceeds by

showing that shifting costs onto
Out of Scope
Out of Scope: reimbursement Too Strong: contradicts The passage never talks about health-care reimbursement. The clause "show that X contradicts Y" is a pretty strong idea. The author never showed that one thing contradicted another.
20% picked this
attributing without justification fraudulent intent
Out of Scope: fraudulent intent
Nothing in the passage matches up with "fraudulent intent". The author thinks that health-care providers and insurers have economic interests, so if possible they will shift any cost away from themselves and towards some other party. That doesn't mean that the author is accusing any of them of committing fraud.
1% picked this
Correct
employing an analogy to characterize
Why this is right
"Analogy" is a super common answer on Method, so it's worth considering an answer like this. Although it's easy to forget and not a crucial part of the argument, the author does employ an analogy: push in on one part of this pliable spending balloon and an equally expensive bulge pops up elsewhere. The health care system is not literally a balloon. So this is a metaphor. It actually seems more appropriate to call it a metaphor than an analogy, but we can make it work. An analogy is just two separate cases that are believed to have some relevant similarity. Both a balloon and our current piecemeal system of paying for healthcare are believed to have the similarity that if you push in on one part, then it just makes some other part bulge out commensurately.
Skill tested: Method · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
66% picked this
denying the possibility of a
Too Strong: denying possibility / disparaging each
The author doesn't deny the possibility of a solution to the problem of reducing health-care costs (she seems to be implying that we need a holistic, single-payer overhaul of the system). And she doesn't disparage each possible alternative system. She never even mentions any alternative systems. This answer is an example of the Ruling Out Options type of answer on Method.
9% picked this
demonstrating that cooperation is feasible
Out of Scope: cooperation is feasible
This is tempting because "cite an instance" is the same as "provide an example", which is what we were guessing the answer would say. But the example isn't there to demonstrate that cooperation is feasible. The example is there to demonstrate that when you make a cut to one part of health-care costs, you get an uptick in some other health-care cost.
3% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill

LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free