HLTH440 UNIT4IP

Assignment Details

Healthcare financing in the United States is complex and involves numerous stakeholders. As U.S. healthcare costs started to rise in the 1970s, the health maintenance organization (HMOs) in the United States evolved with the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973. Thereafter, other managed care plans proliferated. The goal of managed care plans is to reduce healthcare costs by preventing unnecessary healthcare procedures. However, criticisms on the managed care plans include high cost of insurance, limiting patient access to procedures, excessive administrative control, denying patients necessary procedures, and preventing patients from seeing specialists without pre-approval. Managed care plans are today major stakeholders in the financing of healthcare. Prepare an analysis with at least 5 pages that accomplishes the following.

Provide a brief introduction to managed care plans.

Select 2 managed care plans that you are familiar with through reading or experience.

Present 4 advantages for each managed care plan.

Present 4 disadvantages for each managed care plan.

Provide a summarized analysis of the performance of managed care plans in the United States.