Vince Passaro

In an effort to control costs, many in the health care industry have embraced the concept of managed care. Under managed care, insurance companies attempt to avoid paying for excessive or unnecessary procedures by regulating the services doctors give to patients. Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) are one type of managed care system. In the following viewpoint, Vince Passaro describes his visit to an HMO to illustrate his view that such organizations provide poor care. Passaro is a fiction writer and the director of communications at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to Passaro, why are insurance companies turning to the managed care concept?
2. How does Passaro describe his HMO doctor?
3. What industries other than health care have been adversely affected by free-market competition, according to the...