Significant Health Care Event - Managed Care

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Significant Health Care Event - Managed Care Health care has grown and evolved over the centuries from haphazard treatment based on tradition and superstition that often times did more harm than good, to a system that is able to preserve life in situations where life was previously believed to be unsustainable as recently as just 50 years ago. The concept of managed health care began over 100 years ago as a means by which medical care could be provided to injured workers, but has undergone major changes to evolve into the health care delivery system that we are familiar today. As healthcare and technology advanced, these changes brought about miraculous treatments while at the same time created a health care market where prices…show more content…
The Birth of Managed Care The earliest form of managed care are traceable to as early as the 1890’s when a form of group coverage was created where prepayment for services were made for individuals who were members of labor unions, fraternal organizations, and other types of groups. These organizations provided members with life insurance and the additional benefit of providing insurance to cover health care expenses was a seemingly natural evolution, although acceptance was very limited. In the early twentieth century, this type of prepaid plan began to gain popularity as a way to cover employees in the event of a work-related injury. The Tacoma Clinic in Washington was one of the earliest workers compensation prepayment plans in the nation and was followed by others including the Ross-Loos plan for employees of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. During this time, another type of insurance plan entered the market: Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans were created with the express intent of of making health care affordable for individuals and “the Blues” are responsible for creating a fund where they “pooled contributions from enrollees and paid providers on a fee-for-service basis” (Dranove,
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