March 19, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Decline in traditional fee-for-service health plans in 1990s
Participation in traditional fee-for-service health care plans decreased
from 66 percent of full-time employees with health care coverage in 1991
to 26 percent in 1997.
[Chart data—TXT]
In contrast, participation in preferred provider
organizations (PPOs) rose from 16 percent in 1991 to 40 percent in 1997.Â
Participants in PPOs can choose any health care provider, but they receive
higher benefits for services rendered by designated providers.
In 1991, 17 percent of participants in health care
plans were enrolled in health maintenance organizations. This
proportion increased to 33 percent in 1997. Typically, HMOs are
independent organizations that finance and administer health care
services; these plans require the participant to seek care only from
specific care providers.
These data are from the Employee
Benefits Survey. Data in this article are for full-time employees with
medical care coverage in medium and large private establishments.Â
For more information, see "Managed Care Plans and Managed Care
Features: Data from the EBS to the NCS" (PDF
55K), by Cathy A. Baker and Iris S.
Diaz, Compensation and Working
Conditions, Spring 2001.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
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