title: Are fee-for-service costs increasing faster than HMO costs?
abstract: It is well known that the costs of care at health maintenance organizations (HMOs) at any point in time have been lower than in the fee-for-service sector, but how costs have changed in each of these sectors has been less well-documented. The only previous study, which examined the HMO experience during the 1960s and early 1970s, found that HMO and fee-for-service costs rose at approximately the same rate. The present study, which extends this analysis to the period 1976-1981, also demonstrates that HMO costs increased at a rate not detectably different from that in the fee-for-service sector. These results are consistent with the earlier conclusions that HMOs cause a once-and-for-all reduction in cost. They also indicate that the public has been willing to pay for much of the increased costs of modern medical technology. Key words: fee-for-service; health maintenance organizations; Rand Health Insurance Study; Group Health Cooperative data.
mesh_terms: D002204:Capitation Fee / Q000639:trends*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis / Q000639:trends; D005249:Fees and Charges / Q000639:trends*; D005251:Fees, Medical / Q000639:trends; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations / Q000191:economics*; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000191:economics; D014481:United States