Title: Managed care discounting
First published: 2004
Description: "The paper examines price discounting by health maintenance organizations and preferred provider organizations in markets for hospital services.  Our empirical analysis focuses on transaction prices for angioplasty, which is a relatively common procedure, with well defined 'product' characteristics.  After controlling for patient and procedure heterogeneity and market power we find that on average prices for PPOs are 8% lower than fee-for-service plans, followed by point-of-service HMOs who capture a 24% discount.  Our results are in general agreement with earlier work that shows that managed care discounts are 'real', after accounting for process of care"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.
Subjects: Managed care plans (Medical care), Health maintenance organizations, Angioplasty
LC classification: HB1