Managed Care No Panacea

Managed care is no panacea for slowing the rise in the cost of Medicare, Health Care Finance Administration head Bruce Vladek told the House Ways and Means subcommittee on health. Current reimbursement formulas mean that Medicare pays too much for recipients' choosing managed care, he said, because the health plans attract the healthier members of the Medicare population.

The subcommittee ended a week of hearings on Medicare by focusing on encouraging the elderly to join Health Maintenance Organizations and other forms of managed care, in an effort to hold down a projected annual rate of 9.1% in health care spending over the next five years.