Managed care and the prevention of unintended pregnancy

Managed care organizations (MCOs) hold the potential to help address the significant public health issue of unintended pregnancy. Managed care's delivery of women's primary care and family planning services is reviewed. Some MCOs provide better coverage of contraceptive options as well as better confidentiality protections, but not enough is being done in partnering with existing family planning providers and in educating providers about the need to provide family planning counseling, particularly for adolescents. Performance indicators should be developed to create incentives for health plans to assess their success in reducing unintended pregnancy within their enrolled populations.