The managed care backlash: perceptions and rhetoric in health care policy and the potential for health care reform.
The focus on managed care and the managed care backlash divert attention from more important national health issues, such as insurance coverage and quality of care. The ongoing public debate often does not accurately convey the key issues or the relevant evidence. Important perceptions of reduced encounter time with physicians, limitations on physicians' ability to communicate options to patients, and blocked access to inpatient care, among others, are either incorrect or exaggerated. The public backlash reflects a lack of trust resulting from cost constraints, explicit rationing, and media coverage. Inevitable errors are now readily attributed to managed care practices and organizations. Some procedural consumer protections may help restore the eroding trust and refocus public discussion on more central issues.
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Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, Rutgers University, 30 College Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1293, USA. mechanic@rci.rutgers.edu
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006291:Health Policy; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D008402:Mass Media; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011639:Public Opinion; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014481:United States