41.   However, with managed care companies pressuring pharmaceutical companies to contain prices, drug prices have been rising below the rate of inflation this year.

42.   His plan also would have extended prescription coverage to the poorest beneficiaries and given managed care companies an incentive to provide it to others.

43.   Hospital officials say there has been a steep increase in the number of denials of payment by Oxford and other big managed care companies in New York.

44.   In addition to the federal suits, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente and other managed care companies are also being sued under state consumer protection laws.

45.   In addition, the hospital has an entree to HMOs and managed care companies that had given little notice before to a small, local hospital.

46.   In fact, the two have been teeing off on the politics and policies of managed care companies in magazine articles, TV appearances and professional journals.

47.   In any case, he said, overhauling the reimbursement system should provide sufficient cost-cutting incentives and discourage home care companies from offering unnecessary services.

48.   In many cases, the deals have involved mergers between managed care companies and between managed care companies and traditional insurers.

49.   Instead, companies must also reach out to consumers through advertising, he said, and to the governments and the managed care companies that pay for most drugs.

50.   Industry analysts said the proposed deal reflects the growing competition that nonprofit managed care companies like Blue Shield face from their for-profit counterparts.