Managed Care Savings In USA May Be Coming To An End

Many of the savings in health care costs achieved in the USA throughmanaged care and health maintenance organizations may be coming to an end, writes Lisa Bransten in the UK-based Financial Times. These have meant that instead of traditional health insurance just paying up for the medical services given, HMOs have monitored medical services and to some extent have dictated what services can be provided.

Currently, some 75% of working Americans are covered through HMOs or other managed care organizations. However, says Ms Bransten, health care providers (doctors, hospitals, etc) and consumers "are trying to reclaim some of the power they lost in that shift." Many doctors, she says, are joining forces to gain the bargaining power of managed care firms.

Meantime, a new study (Partnering for Value: the Second Annual Washington Business Group on Health/Watson Wyatt Worldwide Study on Value in Health Care) has noted that US companies are moving steadily toward value-based purchasing of health care.