Final answer:
The significant ethical concern in managed care involves the interplay between treatment costs, quality of life, and privacy. Questions addressing policy development must consider patient welfare, data security, and healthcare provider incentives, while acknowledging the complexities introduced by various payment systems and regulations.
Step-by-step explanation:
One of the most serious ethical concerns that impacts managed care is balancing the costs of treatments and diagnoses, patient quality of life, and risks to individual privacy. Developing policies that address this concern involve key questions. First, how can we ensure patient quality of life is prioritized without leading to runaway costs? Second, what measures can we implement to protect health records and maintain individual privacy, while still providing necessary care? Third, how do we align the incentives of healthcare providers with these ethical concerns, potentially reducing the moral hazard associated with both fee-for-service and managed care models? Policies and frameworks should evolve, considering the experiences in fee-for-service systems, the shift towards health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and the implementation of regulations such as the ACA or Obamacare.