The United States has employed many different strategies to control the amount of money spent on healthcare. "Managed care was a market response to the wasteful excesses of the past" (Feldstein, 2011, p. 249). How effective has managed care been in controlling the cost of healthcare in the United States?

Provide a brief history of managed care in the United States and include the growth in managed care once the free choice of provider provision was removed for Medicare and Medicaid recipients in the 1980s.

What mechanisms did managed care employ to attempt to control the cost of healthcare?

How effective were the mechanisms in controlling the costs of healthcare?

Did managed care sacrifice quality in the quest to control costs?

What policy initiative do you recommend to improve the ability of managed care to control the cost of healthcare care in the United States?