This FRONTLINE report examines the tough money and medicine decisions in the new managed care system. While a profit-driven approach to medical care has halted skyrocketing health costs, what's been the impact on doctors, nurses and patients? Exploring the answers to that question, FRONTLINE focuses on the changes underway at two hospitals and goes inside the operations of a large and aggressive HMO. Read the synopsis of this program which offers links to this site's special web reports and additional information.

viewer reaction .  for the health consumer .  pro and con from the experts .  malik hasan: a profile
the outlook for managed care .  what's happening to nurses? .  synopsis .  press reaction .  tapes & transcripts

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The High Price of Health

Today, providing health care is a profit-driven enterprise which is subject to the forces of the marketplace and operated by administrators with their eyes on the bottom line. But has too much of the decision-making power been taken away from the doctors, nurses, and patients? FRONTLINE looks at how in the wake of a failed attempt by the Clinton administration to provide universal health care for every American, the industry has undergone a dramatic transformation. The film examines the changing health-care industry through an in-depth look at how California and Massachusetts hospitals are coping with this health-care revolution.

published april 1998