Managed Care Harms the Poor, Study Finds

Pressure from managed-care companies to keep medical costs down is threatening indigent patients’ access to health-care services, according to a new study financed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The study found that doctors who earn most of their income from the managed-care insurance system provide half as much charity care as do physicians with no managed-care business, and 40 per cent less than those with limited business from managed-care plans.

Traditionally, doctors and hospitals have been able to provide free or low-cost care for uninsured patients by charging insured patients enough to subsidize the charity care. But, the study of 12,000 physicians said, cost-cutting measures imposed by managed-care companies in recent years could be forcing some doctors to reduce or eliminate free medical services.

The study was conducted by the Center for Studying Health System Change, in Washington.