Published in the San Jose Mercury-News, Saturday, December 6, 1997, page 2C.

"In the most comprehensive look to date at Californians' experience with managed health care, a new survey has found that 42 percent of Californians with medical insurance had a problem with their health plans in the past year, including hundreds of thousands who reported denials or delays in getting treatment.

The survey of 1,200 Californians by researchers at the University of California-Berkeley
and the Field Research Corp. concluded that about 1.6 million people reported recent problems involving denial or delays in getting medical treatment, inappropriate care, or difficulty getting referrals to physician specialists.

Of the projected 6.72 million Californians reporting some type of problem with their health plan, 21 percent - representing 1.4 million people - said the problem led to worsening of their medical condition.

"There are a lot of anecdotal stories (about HMOs), but this study is able to quantify the prevalence of these problems," said study author Helen Schauffler, associate professor at Berkeley's School of Public Health.

The survey is likely to powerfully influence the debate in California and nationally about how to regulate the managed care industry, health experts said.

It is the second recent survey to find significant public dissatisfaction with managed care. A national study by researchers at Harvard University and the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 51 percent of Americans believed that managed care has lowered the quality of medical care for the sick, compared with 32 percent who said it had improved the quality.

The UC Berkeley - Field study was commisioned last summer by a state task force named by Gov. Pete Wilson to study the rapid growth of managed care in California and to prepare comprehensive recommendations on reform. The panel is preparing recommendations on how to regulate HMOs, resolve consumer grievances, and other issues."