You will hear the term "managed care" quite a lot in the United States. It is a way for health insurers to help control costs. Managed care influences how much health care you use. Almost all health insurance plans have some sort of managed care program to help control health care costs.

For example, if you need to go to the hospital, one form of managed care requires that you receive approval from your health insurance company before you are admitted to make sure that the hospitalization is needed. If you go to the hospital without this approval, you may not be covered for the hospital bill.