Today Managed Care is the most predominant form of insurance in the United States. Insurances such as PPO, POS, and HMO plans are all included as managed care. Unfortunately many doctors’ offices have to rely on managed care insurances to stay afloat because traditional insurances are in a way being phased out. Both types of insurances come with positive and negative outcomes.
The advantages of managed care plans are lower co-payments. Usually the patient knows exactly the amount they are expected to pay for their services. These predetermined amounts depend on the type of plan you get and vary depending on the service. Another advantage of managed care is that these insurances usually make the medical decisions and offer a wide variety of professionals to choose from to seek the medical attention you need. Physicians understand the importance of quality of care and strive to make sure you have a good experience. Managed care believes in preventative health, therefore, every year your well visits are covered ranging from dental visits to eye exams and your yearly physicals. Another key advantage is the prescription drug programs managed care has. They typically offer lower rates for prescription drugs because they can prescribe a formulary or generic version which is cheaper to produce, therefore, cheaper for the consumer.
Disadvantages for having the managed care insurance is that the insurance company tells you who you can and cannot see depending on your geographical area. They also put limits on your treatment with how much they will pay and you have to see your primary care physician first and they tell you if you are allowed to follow up with a specialist. Another danger is your medical records are available for other medical professional staff other than doctors. Incentives which are good for the patient are not so good when related to the physicians and can limit treatment as well.
From a consumers perspective managed...