Markets And Regulation

Abstract

From the Editor-In-Chief Health AffairsVol. 16, No. 6 Markets And RegulationJohn K. IglehartPUBLISHED:November/December 1997Free Accesshttps://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.16.6.6AboutSectionsView PDFPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsDownload Exhibits TOPICSMarketsManaged careInsurance market regulationLegislationMarkets And Regulation The Republican-controlled Congress, usually driven by an anti-regulatory fervor, has nevertheless aggressively pursued legislation to micromanage the clinical decisions of managed care plans through government action. Many Democrats have embraced these solutions, too, as answers to growing consumer uneasiness with managed care. The disconnection between these two ideologic poles and its essential rationale was summed up by Sen. Jim Jeffords (R-VT) in a recent interview in Health Affairs: “I am concerned that, through legislation, we're getting into micromanaging [health] plans on critically popular issues. I must admit that I succumbed to those pressures by voting for the forty-eight-hour required hospital stay [for normal deliveries]. But I thought it would send a signal that this kind of cost-cutting action would not be tolerated.” While many members of Congress share Jeffords' misgivings over such legislative pursuits, Donald Moran asserts here that “the stage is set in 1997 for a marked expansion of the federal role in regulating health benefits.” Because of Congress's penchant for acting first and developing theories later, we are devoting a section to papers that discuss regulatory alternatives. Health Affairs and the Health Insurance Reform Project at The George Washington University held a meeting supported by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to discuss these issues with leading thinkers and doers. (See p. 21 for participant list.) We devote the rest of this issue to new empirical research on managed care and the health care marketplace. Many of these papers were first presented in early versions at a conference cosponsored by the Agency for Health Care Pohcy and Research (AHCPR) and Health Affairs in February. We are grateful to a number of funders for support of this thematic issue and their efforts to move beyond the anecdote in pursuit of sound research on managed care and market change: AHCPR, the American Association of Health Plans, and the California HealthCare Foundation. Loading Comments... Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. DetailsExhibitsReferencesRelated Article Metrics History Published online 1 November 1997 InformationCopyright © by Project HOPE: The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.PDF download