Similar to, for example, the US, Switzerland or Great Britain the German health care sector has recently undergone a series of reforms towards managed care. These measures are intended to yield both a higher quality of care and cost containment. In our study we ask whether managed care reduces health care expenditure at the market level. We apply a macroeconomic evaluation approach based on a regional panel data set which is as yet unique in the context of managed care. Econometrically, we account for both unobserved heterogeneity and spatial dependence, i.e. regional interrelations in health care. We discuss alternative model specifications and include a range of sensitivity analyses. Our results suggest that in contrast to public perception the share of managed care contracts has a positive impact on pharmaceutical spending, in particular through regional spillover effects.