Switching Swiss enrollees from indemnity health insurance to managed care: The effect on health status and satisfaction with care

T.V. Perneger, J.-F. Etter and A. Rougemont

American Journal of Public Health, 1996, vol. 86, issue 3, 388-393

Abstract: Objectives. In 1992, most members of a Swiss indemnity health insurance plan were automatically transferred into a newly created managed care organization. This study examined whether this semivoluntary change affected enrollees' health status and satisfaction with care. Methods. Three groups of enrollees were compared: 332 plan members who accepted the switch (managed care joiners); 186 plan members who opted to maintain indemnity coverage (nonjoiners); and 296 persons continuously enrolled in another indemnity plan (indemnity plan members). Health status, health-related behaviors, and satisfaction with care received in the previous year were surveyed at baseline and 1 year later. Results. Health status remained unchanged in all three groups. Smoking prevalence decreased among managed care joiners but remained constant in the other groups. Satisfaction with insurance coverage increased between baseline and follow-up in managed care joiners, but decreased in nonjoiners and indemnity plan members. The latter groups had higher satisfaction with health care, particularly with continuity of care. Conclusions. A semivoluntary switch from indemnity health insurance to managed care reduced satisfaction with health care but increased satisfaction with insurance coverage. There were no changes in self-perceived health status.

Date: 1996
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1996:86:3:388-393_4

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().