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Managed care refers to a variety of techniques that integrates payment and provision of healthcare. It aims at influencing the trends in healthcare facilities and that provide medical services to members at a reduced cost. Managed care plans usually contract with the medical facilities and healthcare providers to deliver services to their potential customers. Managed care plans are divided into three. These include
a). Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) 0720108418
In this category, the clients choose a care doctor that provides the services. The payment is within a local network.
b). Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) - Pay more if services are provided within a network.
c). Point of Service (POS). In this category, the client is given an opportunity to choose either HMO or PPO when they need the care. Usually, the clients pay more when using a more flexible plan than a restrictive plan.
Americans have witnessed a faster rise in the health care costs than the domestic gross product (GDP). The rise in the medical costs has led to the increase in expenses by the American families. The privately insured people are the most affected by the rising costs. The high out-of-pocket costs have led to a number of negative consequences. These include bankruptcy, family financial distress and obstacles in receiving the necessary medical services among the families.
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The rising costs in the managed care plans have led to many Americans losing trust on their physicians. Patients no longer trust their doctors to make medical decisions on their behalf. Patients no longer want to adhere to the medical recommendations and preventive services given by their doctors. The recent efforts to improve the quality of medical care services have been thwarted. The initiated campaign to begin patient-centered health care plans depends highly on the trust that clients have on the health providers. Most of Americans believe that the doctors have a financial motive in raising the medical fees.
Non-adherence to the medical recommendations by patients has a negative impact on the health of Americans. The cases of deteriorated health among patients have been on the rise. Patients who ignore the prescriptions by the doctors have been forced to use more than one type of medication. Some of the illnesses have also taken longer than expected. The continued use of drugs has led to more chemicals getting into the body and increasing the level of toxins. This has a long term effect on the health of Americans.
The increasing costs of health services pose a long term threat on the economic security of Americans. Research has shown that the costs of health care services are projected to increase by 70% in the coming ten years. The sad part is that income levels are not raising at the same rate as the healthcare costs. This means that personal income will be consumed by a large percentage in the recent future. This implies that most American families will have lower living standards. They will not be able to afford even the basic things as before. Since healthcare is a necessity, most families will be forced to forego some of the luxuries they had before and spend more on health.
Americans are forced to give up on some of the necessary things that they considered very vital. Most families now have to settle for products that are of lower quality. For example, some children may not get the quality education and health care as their parents desired. They have to seek for affordable education and health services to cut on expenditure.
Conclusion
From the above research, it is evident that American families cannot cope with the rising managed care costs. It is therefore important for policy makers to ensure that the medical costs are manageable. This will lead to a healthy economy.