Skyrocketing health care costs seem to be making some U.S. consumers more sympathetic to the concept of managed care.[@@]
Claudia Schur, a research scientist with the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, presented new survey data supporting that conclusion today in Washington.
"The managed care backlash is easing up, probably because consumers are feeling the pinch of rising costs themselves," Schur said. "However, support for managed care practices is quite segmented, depending on each consumer's health care experience and needs."
Schur and other colleagues who conducted the survey found that only 30% of all survey respondents said gatekeeper referrals, drug substitution, prior approval expensive procedures and other managed care strategies can keep health care costs down without hurting patients' health.
But "who you are matters," Schur said. She reported that lower-income consumers seem to be more willing to accept limitations on coverage in exchange for lower costs.
As a result, "we may see more plan offerings where consumers who want choice can pay for it, while those willing to accept limits on their care can pay less," Schur said.
