Managed Care, Physician Incentives, and Norms of Medical Practice: Racing to the Bottom or Pulling to the Top?

摘要

With the costs of medical care on the rise and the ranks of the uninsured swelling, the health care system in the United States is once again under media and Congressional scrutiny. HMOs and other providers of "managed care" are at the center of the controversy. While these organizations are credited by many with controlling the costs of health care, they have also been accused of doing so at the expense of their members' well-being. In this new working paper, Research Associate James B. Rebitzer and David J. Cooper, both of Case Western University, examine the merits of the claim that the cost-control incentives used by managed care organizations result in a lower quality of care.