SUMMARY
Since 1995, states have played an increasingly active role as regulators of managed care health plans. However, there is little consistency from state to state in the laws that govern managed care plans. This paper analyzes this inconsistency within the framework of the economic and political theories of regulatory choice. An empirical model is developed to test whether these theories can explain the presence of two laws regulating women's access to obstetrician-gynecologists (OB/GYNs). The results suggest that these theories together do help to clarify why certain states enacted the regulations. The regulations were more likely to be present in states with a relatively high number of OB/GYNs and female legislators, and Democratic control of government.