CHP/PCOR core faculty member Alain C. Enthoven presented an overview of managed care, and recommendations for reforming the U.S. healthcare system, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's 50th economic conference, which was this year devoted to health care.

The conference, titled "Wanting it All: The Challenge of Reforming the U.S. Health Care System," was held June 15-17, 2005 in Chatham, Massachusetts.

In his presentation, Enthoven discussed the rise and promise of managed care, the subsequent backlash against it, and how the U.S. healthcare system needs -- but has failed to implement -- managed competition. He asserted that the United States needs to replace the failing employer-based model with universal coverage based on managed competition in the private sector. He also asserted that integrated delivery systems, such as Kaiser Permanente or the VA healthcare system, should play a prominent role because of their proven success in providing cost-effective, high-quality care.