(2000) Making
Medicare+ Choice Real: Understanding and Meeting the Information Needs of Beneficiaries at the Local Level.
"The Effect of Health Plan Characteristics on
Medicare+ Choice Enrollment." Health Services Research 38 (1, part 1): 113-35.
Therefore, rising drug costs are a major concern for Medicare and the for-profit and non-profit managed care plans (e.g.,
Medicare+ Choice) enrolling Medicare-aged patients.
After peaking in 1999 with roughly 7 million members, enrollment in the
Medicare+ Choice (M+C) Program has been dropping.
The CMS also will spend $35 million to bring more beneficiaries into the
Medicare+ Choice program.
One division, the Center for Beneficiary Choices, will focus on the
Medicare+ Choice program.
She has lectured extensively on the
Medicare+ Choice appeals process and currently practices with the Washington, DC office of Vinson & Elkins.
Paul also previewed a separate effort in which Medicare will pay qualifying
Medicare+ Choice organizations more to reflect the additional costs of providing high-quality care to their enrollees with congestive heart failure (CHF).
"That's something we've seen in the
Medicare+ Choice program, and people have different opinions on how well it's worked," said Kristin Stewart, director of private market issues, American Association of Health Plans.
This past summer, 65
Medicare+ Choice HMOs chose not to renew their Medicare+Choice contracts, and 53 reduced their service areas.
Under the 1997 legislation, however, Medicare beneficiaries will be able to avoid such rationing by picking the new
Medicare+ Choice option of a "private fee-for-service plan." In order to do so, they will be permitted to add their own money on top of the government payment to pay a premium high enough to provide treatments without rationing.
The Health Care Financing Administration is proceeding to implement all five health coverage options--"
Medicare+ Choice"--adopted by Congress in 1997 as part of the Balanced Budget Act.