Managed care as a public cost-containment mechanism

This article identifies the impact of managed-care reforms on the utilization of medical services within the military health-services system. The data come from a recent demonstration project that substituted an HMO and PPO for traditional FFS arrangements. Results from a semiparametric model indicate that the generosity of benefits in the HMO increased demand for ambulatory services. Unlike the private-sector experience with managed care, aggressive utilization review did not significantly curtail inpatient stays. These results vitiate the presumed effectiveness of reform strategies that rely on large, geographically diffused managed-care networks to contain public-sector health costs.