Reports From the Field: Hostility to managed care declining, poll says
While Americans still are unhappy on the whole with managed care, hostility and criticism have declined from their peak in 2000, a new poll by Harris Interactive has found.
The percentage of those polled who believe the trend toward managed care is a "bad thing" has declined from 52% in 2000 to 36% in 2002. Those who think it’s a good thing remained constant at 36%.
The percentage of those who believe that managed care "will harm the quality of medical care" has declined from 59% in 2000 to 51% in 2002, but the pollsters concluded that the change is not because people think managed care will improve quality. Instead, it is because there has been an increase in those who don’t think it makes a different or who are unsure, the researchers concluded.
The "modest trend" probably is due to a decline in physician hostility to managed care at a time when reductions in Medicare fees are their top issue, says Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive. As a result, there are fewer stories in the media that "demonize" managed care, he adds.
"It may also have been helped by current concerns about prescription drug prices and, more recently, increased hospital fees," he says.
The full results are available in issue 20 of Health Care News at www.harrisinteractive.com/news/newsletters_healthcare.asp.
While Americans still are unhappy on the whole with managed care, hostility and criticism have declined from their peak in 2000, a new poll by Harris Interactive has found.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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