The share of the public expressing negative views about managed care’s impact has remained fairly steady since 1997, though the share saying that managed care has not made much difference in health care costs has increased from 55% in 1997 to 63% in 2004. The share saying that managed care has made it easier to get preventive services has declined from 46% in 1997 to 32% in 2004.

	Aug-97	Aug-98	Apr-99	Jul-01	Aug-04
Not made much difference in health care costs	55%	59%	55%	59%	63%
Decreased time doctors spend with patients	61	64	61	67	60
Made it harder for people who are sick to see medicine specialists	59	62	63	59	56
Decreased the quality of health care for people who are sick	51	50	50	54	49
Made it easier to get preventive services	46	40	38	39	32

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, Health Poll Report, July/August 2004 Edition, at http://www.kff.org/healthpollreport/archive_aug2004/2b.cfm, using surveys conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health, with fieldwork conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates.