Beneficiary Issues in Medicare Reform

Capitation and the Medicare program: History, issues, and evidence

This article reviews the history of capitation in the Medicare program and examines issues and research findings related to Medicare capitation. Specific capitation issues and related research findings reviewed include: the feasibility and extent of health maintenance organization participation in Medicare; plan marketing; beneficiary choice behavior; quality of care; and the use and cost of se...

Health insurance and the elderly.

The effectiveness of proposed changes to the Medicare program depends on consumers' responses to different market incentives, which vary according to the coverage the elderly possess to supplement their Medicare coverage. This Data Watch explores the extent of supplemental insurance among the elderly, based on a new data set from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey. Only 11 percent of Medic...

Methodological Issues in Estimating Prescription Drug Coverage Using the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey

State-Level Variation in Medicare Spending

Theoretically, Medicare provides one standard benefit package to all enrollees. But because of State-level variations in populations, service supply, and local practice patterns, national policy changes may have unequal impacts on access and service utilization. Across-the-board policy changes may create hardships in one area while appropriately discouraging use in another area. In this article...

Considerations in Medicare reform: the impact of Medicare preemption on state laws.

This article explores the key issues involved in understanding the impact of Medicare preemption on state laws affecting the federal purchase of managed care products, as a consideration in future Medicare reform. Author Commander Jackonis argues that any further Medicare reform must address the impact of federal preemption on quality and quantity of care purchased in order to ensure the existe...