The Fund supports networks of state health policy decision makers to help identify, inspire, and inform policy leaders.
The Milbank Memorial Fund supports two state leadership programs for legislative and executive branch state government officials committed to improving population health.
The Fund identifies and shares policy ideas and analysis to advance state health leadership, strong primary care, and sustainable health care costs.
Keep up with news and updates from the Milbank Memorial Fund. And read the latest blogs from our thought leaders, including Fund President Christopher F. Koller.
The Fund publishes The Milbank Quarterly, as well as reports, issues briefs, and case studies on topics important to health policy leaders.
The Milbank Memorial Fund is is a foundation that works to improve population health and health equity.
December 1980 (Volume 58)
Quarterly Article
Harold S. Luft
Dec 4, 2024
Nov 5, 2024
Oct 30, 2024
Back to The Milbank Quarterly
HMOs contract to provide physician and hospital services to enrolled populations in return for fixed periodic payments. Total costs for HMO members are shown to be lower than for those enrolled in conventional insurance plans. But the explanation for this and related differences cannot be attributed solely to matters of efficiency, quality, or even consumer self-selection or physician satisfaction. Although public policy assumes that HMOs will encourage beneficial competitive responses by traditional health care providers, too little is known to predict the nature and extent of such probabilities.
Author(s): Harold S. Luft
Download the Article
Read on JSTOR
Volume 58, Issue 4 (pages 501–536) Published in 1980