Traditional Health Care Vs. Managed Care

The health care system in the United States is coming under more and more scrutiny due to its lack of efficiency and inability to reach everyone. Therefore, the question of whether traditional health care or managed health care is more beneficial is more relevant than ever.

Traditional Health Care

• Traditional health care plans allow you to choose any doctor (some specialists may require pre-approval), but the patient pays more out-of-pocket expenses (co-pays and deductibles).

Managed Care

• Managed health care providers aim to control everything from the financing to the delivery of health care procedures in a way that provides the highest quality care for the lowest possible price.

Managed Health Care Providers

• Managed health care providers include the health maintenance organization (HMO), independent practice association (IPA), preferred provider organization (PPO) and point of service (POS).

Patient Considerations

• Patients who want more freedom in choosing doctors should go the traditional route. If you are more concerned about having lower out-of-pocket costs, you will want to choose a managed health care plan.

Benefits to Society

• The major benefit of managed health care versus traditional health care is simply the fact that procedures, insurers and costs are being watched much more closely now. Consequently, the entire health care system should run more efficiently.