This study evaluated the Medicaid Managed Care Program, an initiative launched by the 168 in 1995 to promote the delivery of high-quality health services for low-income people and those with special health care needs. The overview assesses the perspectives of states, Medicaid health plans, and...

Growing interest in using consumer satisfaction information to enhance quality of care and promote informed consumer choice has accompanied recent expansions in managed care. This article synthesizes information about consumer satisfaction surveys conducted by managed-care plans, government and...

Provides a timely profile of how managed care plans—especially those at financial risk—structure their networks and pay providers, finding that contractual arrangements between plans and providers are complex and diverse across and within networks. Furthermore, HMO contracts with...

Diabetes is a growing threat to the nation’s health that has serious and costly complications. This paper looks behind the $79.7 billion estimates for 2005 of medical and disability costs to the federal government cited in Mathematica’s main study. The estimates include $2.5 billion in...

Although Medicare+Choice was conceived to bring managed care and competitive forces to bear on Medicare, ultimately it could not thrive under the conditions of the marketplace and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Reviews what went wrong and the lessons from the experience, concluding that M+C is...

The Affordable Care Act has altered payment policy for private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, with the goal of lowering costs to bring them closer to the costs of traditional Medicare. Using new information on 2009 MA costs, an issue brief compares plans’ estimates of per capita costs for...

Medicare Options Compare, a website maintained by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), helps beneficiaries choose among available Medicare Advantage plans. This AARP brief identifies strengths and weaknesses of the site. On one hand, it helps beneficiaries identify health plan...