A Reply to Sullivan's Reanalysis of Managed Care Plan Performance Since 1980.

This article comments on the reanalysis made by dean Kip Sullivan on managed care plan performance in the U.S. Sullivan argues that one should base evaluations of quality in managed care plans only on research in which coverage and benefits in various settings are comparable. He states that the impact of differential financial barriers on care-seeking behavior should be excluded from such assessments. Applying this insurance criterion decrease substantially the number of reanalysis research with outcomes favorable to health maintenance organizations. Health plan choices are made among various options, sometimes by employers or policymakers, sometimes by patients. As a whole, choices are made among plans that have various principal mechanisms for cost containments.