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Hmo

HMO

University of Phoenix

HCS 310

Healthcare Delivery in the United Sates

HMO

Managed care dates back to as 1882. Northern Pacific Railroad Beneficial Association was one of the first employers to offer healthcare coverage. In 1910, the Western Clinic in Tacoma, Washington offered medical services through its providers for a premium of only 50 cent per month, which served lumber mill owners and employees. In 1929, Blue Cross was originated when Baylor Hospital in Texas agreed to provide coverage by the case on a prepaid basis for some 1,500 teachers. The Kaiser Foundation Health Plan was started in 1937 as well.
In 1965, Congress's amendment of the Social Security Act and the formation of Medicare and Medicaid were signed into law by President Johnson and thus the current system of federal healthcare was established. Medicare is a national health insurance program that provides a basic program of hospital insurance and aids in paying healthcare bills with a supplementary assistance program for persons over the age of 65 and those disabled for more than two years. Medicaid, while also a national health insurance program, is administered by the individual states, and while specific coverage and benefits vary from state to state, Medicaid was meant to provide services for the "categorically needy," such as the blind, aged, or disabled. Medicaid is intended to bridge the gap for those with huge medical costs and that are not old enough to qualify for Medicare.
Health Maintenance Organization (HMO), a term coined by Nixon advisor Paul Ellwood, was the cornerstone of President Nixon's "new national health strategy" in 1971. This "strategy" was one in which an external influence on the doctor and patient relationship was meant to ensure an outcome relating to quality, cost, or both that might not otherwise occurred.
The HMO Act of 1973 authorized $375 million in federal funds to help develop HMO's. Although the goals have not yet...