ABSTRACT
The concept of managed care, often typified by health maintenance organizations (HMOs), was given federal support to blunt the political initiative for a unified, equitable national health care system. Since the 1970s and particularly in the 1980s managed care has begun to displace indemnity health insurance because of managed care’s reputed ability to reduce the cost of health care. HMOs are a significant form of managed care. There are two major types of HMOs: group and staff models, and independent practice associations (IPAs). A point-of-service (POS) plan, a member of an HMO has some insurance coverage if he or she uses hospitals and physicians outside the network but must pay relatively high out-of-pocket expenses to do so. HMOs advertise for business using the full gamut of media: radio to billboards, newspapers to television. Humana spent $18.6 million dollars advertising its managed care products during the two year span 1990-1991.
