Managed Care Regulation: Can We Learn from Others? The Chilean Experience

Because the United States relies on private insurance for financing health care to a much greater degree than do other nations, and because managed care as a form of private insurance is further developed in the United States than elsewhere, it is arguable that we have little to learn from other nations about managed care regulation. This Article tests this hypothesis with respect to Chile, a country where private insurance is widespread and managed care is emerging. It concludes that by studying the experience of other nations we might gain a larger perspective on the context of our concerns in regulating managed care, in particular appraising more soberly the difficulties we face in regulating private health insurance markets; understand more fully the importance of attempting the difficult task of regulation; and appreciate more completely our responsibility for sharing with the rest of the world our insights into managed care regulation. We may even find regulatory tools that others have created that might help us with our tasks.