An in depth article in the Wall Street Journal addresses how “[T]hroughout most of the 1990s, HMOs whacked health-care prices, squeezed hospital stays and restricted patients' freedom to choose doctors.” The article notes that although the plans cut costs, they also created unhappy consumers and physicians that rebelled against insurers' control over health decisions. The article also quotes Ralph Snyderman, health affairs chancellor at Duke University, who has been calling for an approach that he calls “prospective health care.” “The core principle is to assess people's health risks early and often and to intervene against them with timely, cost-effective prevention or treatment,” Snyderman concluded. For the entire article, please go to: http://online.wsj.com.

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