Debate: Managed Care Should Be Encouraged for Medicare and Medicaid
In this debate, Group 2 will be on the pro side of the debate (for) and Group 1 will be on the con side of the debate (against). Each side of the argument will have their own thread in the discussion board.
Each student in each group should post three compelling arguments for their side by the end of Day 4. On Day 5, if there are still compelling arguments that have not been posted by other students in your group, you are encouraged to post these additional arguments.
Because there is an ongoing national debate over funding for the Medicare Advantage program within the Accountable Care Act, a good deal of relevant current material is available.
Web sites of the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund have useful information on this topic, and arguments can be gleaned from a Google search using “Medicare Advantage,” “Medicare Advantage Marketing,” Medicare Advantage Programs,” “Medicare managed care,” and “Medicaid managed care.” America’s Health Insurance Plans (ahip.org) has important information. The American Enterprise Institute and the Cato Foundation also may have relevant information.
The following is a list of some of the aspects of managed care that might be addressed in this debate. The debate need not be limited to these topics.
- Efficiency of private sector and government for the delivery of health care
- Cost of managed care compared to cost of Medicare and Medicaid without managed care
- Incremental benefit of managed care greater in Medicaid than in Medicare
- Mechanisms for change of health care
- Opportunity for innovation
- Coordination of care
- Complexity of payment
- Profit motive’s effect on health care
- Possibility of abusive tactics by managed care payers
- Need for governmental supervision of managed care payers
