Report Outline
Rising Interest in Prepaid Health Care
Growth of U.S. Health Insurance
Probability of HMO Growth in Future
Special Focus
Rising Interest in Prepaid Health Care
Search for Medical Protection at Lower Cost
Americans now spend close to $100 billion a year on medical care. This enormous and increasing expenditure has led to widespread complaints that the public is not getting its money's worth and that the U.S. health care system is in drastic need of overhaul. Much of this criticism focuses on the health insurance industry. Nine of every 10 Americans are protected by one or more forms of private health insurance. However, it is estimated that this insurance covers less than one-third of the total national health bill. Because most insurance plans pay much more for hospitalization than for outpatient care, doctors are encouraged to admit their patients to hospitals, thereby increasing medical costs. And since most plans pay only when the patient sees a doctor or enters a hospital, there is little emphasis on preventive care.
Many persons, in their search for an alternative to increasingly costly and fragmented medical care, have focused their attention on health maintenance organizations. HMOs, as they are called, typically provide comprehensive care for enrolled members on a prepaid basis. For a fixed sum paid at regular intervals, the enrollee is entitled to any or all of the benefits offered without having to pay anything extra out of his own pocket.
While figures vary, the Health Insurance Association estimates that about six million Americans belong to 160 health maintenance organizations. The best known of these group programs are the Kaiser-Permanente plan, with more than 2.6 million members in California, Oregon, Hawaii, Colorado and Ohio; the Health Insurance Plan in New York, with more than 750,000 members; the Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound in Seattle, with 180,000 members; the Group Health Association of Washington, B.C., with 97,000; and the Labor Health Center in St. Louis, with 40,000. |
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Oct. 23, 2020 |
The U.S. Health Insurance System |
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Oct. 18, 2019 |
Health Care Debates |
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Sep. 21, 2012 |
Assessing the New Health Care Law |
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Jun. 11, 2010 |
Health-Care Reform  |
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Aug. 28, 2009 |
Health-Care Reform |
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Mar. 30, 2007 |
Universal Coverage |
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Jun. 14, 2002 |
Covering the Uninsured |
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Apr. 16, 1999 |
Managing Managed Care |
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Apr. 12, 1996 |
Managed Care |
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Mar. 17, 1995 |
Primary Care |
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Nov. 23, 1990 |
Setting Limits on Medical Care |
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Oct. 14, 1988 |
The Failure to Contain Medical Costs |
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Aug. 10, 1984 |
Health Care: Pressure for Change |
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Apr. 08, 1983 |
Rising Cost of Health Care |
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Jan. 28, 1977 |
Controlling Health Costs |
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Aug. 09, 1974 |
Health Maintenance Organizations |
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Jun. 13, 1973 |
Health Care in Britain and America |
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Jan. 18, 1970 |
Future of Health Insurance |
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Jun. 20, 1962 |
Health Care Plans and Medical Practice |
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May 28, 1958 |
Health Insurance Costs |
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Feb. 17, 1954 |
Government Aid for Health Plans |
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Nov. 22, 1949 |
Compensation for Disability |
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Aug. 30, 1946 |
Public Medical Care |
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Jan. 25, 1944 |
Medical Insurance |
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Sep. 16, 1938 |
Health Insurance in Foreign Countries |
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Mar. 06, 1937 |
Toward Health Insurance |
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Jul. 09, 1934 |
Sickness Insurance and Group Hospitalization |
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