The History of Health Insurance and Managed Care

Health insurance began in the early part of the twentieth century as a means to protect an organization's assets, either its financial assets or its manpower. Since the early days, health insurance evolved into a system of managed care in order to control issues such as overutilization, skyrocketing costs, limited restrictions, and low-quality care.

Using the Internet, search for articles on health insurance and managed care. Based on your research, summarize your findings and answer the following questions:

• Examine the main events in the history of health insurance from the mid-twentieth century to the present. Explain how these events led up to the evolution of managed care organizations.
• Evaluate the purpose of health care insurance in the early days.
• Evaluate the evolution of health insurance and managed care. What is the relationship between the two and how has managed care risen to prominence in today's health care market?
• Explain how the perspective of health insurance has or hasn't changed in today's managed care environment.
• Analyze the public policy and market forces leading to the growth of managed care.
• Analyze the current trends in managed care and its future in the context of health care reforms.