Managed care finds itself in dire straits

Managed health care, in its various guises from HMOs to PPOs, has been in place in Minnesota for at least 20 years and in the rest of the country for most of the last decade. Ten years should be enough time for any idea to prove its worth. Yet, every consultant, economist, stockbroker, medical supply company executive, and pharmaceutical CEO I know believes that corporate medicine has failed to deliver its promised quality care at reduced cost. A victim not only of its own unmet promises but also of its own excesses, managed care is now facing its own demise.