Health Care in California

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that according to the annual market study of California's health plans, hospital systems and physician organizations, as conducted by the California Health Care Fund, overall the market is experiencing less turmoil than it did in the first part of the century. The writer looks at the 'California Health Care Market Report 2006' written by Allan Baumgarten and notes that the purpose of the report is to present a comprehensive data resource on such important health care related factors as financial results, enrollment trends, measures of utilization, market share and effectiveness of care. The writer maintains that the conclusions of the study are valid as the reader can make the same determinations from the presented data.

From the Paper:

"The study found several major trends. Among these are a shift away from HMOs, thus putting greater pressure on physician organizations; economic power shifting generally away from hospitals and instead back towards individual health plans; hospitals are spending a majority of their funds on physical construction and expansion programs; and continued challenges to the growing number of uninsured and underinsured.
"The study itself was generally successful in following the criteria of good research. Doing research in the healthcare field is becoming more and more difficult with new privacy protections such as the federal government's HIPPA legislation. However, despite this limitation, the annual study conducted by the California Healthcare Market Report did a good job of taking a broad approach of this abstract and large market in order to get a good understanding of its current state."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Baumgarten, Allan.(2007): California Health Care Market Report 2006. Los Angeles: California Healthcare Foundation.
• Halfon, Neal, Ebener, Patricia A., Sastry, Narayan and Phinney Ahn. (2000): California Health Report. Los Angeles: RAND Corporation.

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