The new Medicare Part D benefit, which began on January 1, 2006, expanded Medicare to include prescription drugs, and it required beneficiaries to change how they interact with the program. Past experience with low enrollment in a variety of programs designed to aid low-income Medicare...

Public and private payers are developing hospital care pay for performance (P4P) initiatives as part of a broader national movement to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care services. These initiatives augment or reduce payments to a hospital on the basis of its performance on...

In 2006, optional coverage for outpatient prescription drugs (Medicare Part D) was added to the Medicare program, along with a low-income subsidy program to help beneficiaries with limited incomes pay for Part D out-of-pocket expenses. Mathematica’s study suggests the following best...

Senior hospital executives responding to a 2005 national telephone survey report that Hospital Compare and other public reports on hospital quality measures have helped to focus hospital leadership attention on quality matters. This article notes that the executives also report increased...

In April 2005, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Health Quality Alliance launched Hospital Compare, a web-based tool that helps acute care and critical access hospitals publish quality data for 17 clinical measures on heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia. Approximately...

In 2006, optional coverage for outpatient prescription drugs (Medicare Part D) was added to the Medicare program, along with a low-income subsidy program to help beneficiaries with limited incomes pay for Part D out-of-pocket expenses. Mathematica’s study suggests the following best practices...

In April 2005, the 39;47 and the Health Quality Alliance launched Hospital Compare, a web-based tool that helps acute care and critical access hospitals publish quality data for 17 clinical measures on heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia. Approximately 4,200 hospitals across the country...

Direct certification simplifies the process of certifying certain children for free school meals by eliminating the need for households to apply. The 2004 Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act required all local educations agencies (LEAs) to establish a system of direct certification by...