Health care coalitions: characteristics, activities, and prospects.

Health care coalitions are an important element in the 1980s' emphasis on private sector cost-containment initiatives. The peak years for the formation of these coalitions were 1982 and 1983. Based on a 1986 telephone survey of 215 health care coalitions, we provide an analysis of the maturing health care coalition movement, focusing on who is in them, what they do, how they are doing, and what they have accomplished. We also propose two life-cycle models that describe most coalitions. One model fits the temporary, outcome-oriented employer-only coalitions, while the second fits the more process-oriented broad-based coalitions. Our data, along with more recent information, suggest that at present the coalition movement is in decline.