In truth, though, precisely the opposite is true. Lower costs, more accessible health care Managed care is making a difference in cost. Because of managed care, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 New Yorkers who would otherwise be uninsured now benefit from health insurance coverage, based on experts' calculations for the national health-care picture. At the same time it's making health care more affordable and thus more accessible to New Yorkers, managed care is improving the quality of care. Pathbreaking steps in quality assurance are coming not because of new laws or government regulations, but because of marketplace pressure.
Government does have a significant role to play in assuring the quality of health- insurance plans.
Aside from monitoring organizations' financial stability and individual physicians' competence, that role is primarily to help make sure employers and consumers have as much information as possible to judge competing plans. New York State's Health Department is a national leader in that effort. All things considered, managed care is one of the reasons the American system of health care is, more than ever, the envy of the entire world. At the very time it should be celebrated for helping solve the critical cost problem and for promoting quality health care, managed care is under increasing attack. An ambitious analysis of coverage by major news organizations, just released by three independent experts on health care, found that news reports in recent years have become increasingly negative, dramatic and based on anecdotes rather than objective analysis.