APPROPRIATE AND NECESSARY HEALTH-CARE - NEW LANGUAGE FOR A NEW ERA

Conceptual and language changes are necessary to accompany the paradig m shift from fee-for-service medicine to managed care, Medical necessi ty is an inadequate and ambiguous term defined differently by provider s, payers, patients, and legislators, The attempt by legislators in Mi nnesota to develop a universal standard benefits set for healthcare se rvices strikingly underscores the need to define relevant terminology to accompany the transition to managed care, We suggest the term appro priate and necessary healthcare as a state-of-the-art term for the new era of managed care.