This Data Spotlight reviews trends in Medicare Advantage plan offerings, choices available to beneficiaries, and the premiums and selected characteristics of available plans in 2012. On average, beneficiaries will be able to choose from among 20 plans in 2013, the same as in 2012. The average...

Focuses on initial program design and experience under HealthChoice as of late 1998, noting that the state continues to face substantial challenges in realizing the ambitious goals set for the program. Available only from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. (800) 656-4533.

Special needs plans (SNPs) are a type of Medicare Advantage managed care plan that serves individuals who have chronic or disabling conditions, are covered under both Medicare and Medicaid, or are institutionalized. Enrollment in SNPs has nearly doubled in the past year to almost 1.1 million,...

The Medicare drug benefit that Congress created in 2003 aims to provide more private plan options for senior and disabled beneficiaries in Medicare, with increased payments to attract sponsors and to support added benefits attractive to enrollees, especially in rural areas. The effects of these...

Health care quality measurement and reporting have grown rapidly during the past decade and now enjoy wide support. The CAHPS surveys, funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality since 1995, have been a key part of the effort to generate scientifically sound measures of consumer...

This article examines the lessons and limits of Medicare Advantage, private health plans, and market competition as proposed solutions to traditional Medicare's rising costs and growing eligibility rolls. Gold reviews Medicare's 30-year experience with voluntary private-plan...