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Medicare Advantage (Medicare+Choice)

An Illustrative Analysis of Medicare Options Compare: What’s There and What’s Not?  / Research Report
April 2009— This AARP Public Policy Institute Insight on the Issues by Marsha Gold of Mathematica Policy Research assesses Medicare Options Compare, a web site maintained by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to help beneficiaries choose among available Medicare Advantage plans. (16 pages) (Publication ID: I27)

A First Look at How Medicare Advantage Benefits and Premiums in Individual Enrollment Plans are Changing from 2008 to 2009  / Research Report
March 2009— Between 2008 and 2009, the number of Medicare Advantage plans increased slightly and cost sharing varied substantially across plans. This AARP Public Policy Institute Insight on the Issues by Marsha Gold and Maria Cupples Hudson of Mathematica Policy Research analyzes data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (16 pages) (Publication ID: I25)

Medicare Advantage Benefit Design: What Does It Provide, What Doesn’t It Provide, and Should Standards Apply?  / Research Report
March 2009— This AARP Public Policy Institute research report by Marsha Gold and Maria Cupples Hudson analyzes recent changes in Medicare Advantage (MA) benefit design. It finds that MA plans have utilized the flexibility afforded them under the law to modify the structure of traditional Medicare benefits in important ways. (38 pages) (Publication ID: 2009-03)

2006 Medicare Advantage Benefits and Premiums  / Research Report
November 2006— This AARP Public Policy Institute Issue Paper by Marsha Gold, Maria Cupples Hudson, and Sara Davis of Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., examines the benefits and premiums for Medicare Advantage plans in 2006, including the benefits and premiums of Special Needs Plans (SNPs). In their concluding observations, the authors address several policy and operational challenges that emerge from their analysis of the 2006 data. (93 pages) (Publication ID: 2006-23)

An Assessment of Beneficiary Knowledge of Medicare Coverage Options and the Prescription Drug Benefit  / Research Report
May 2006— This AARP Public Policy Institute Issue Paper by Judith Hibbard, Jessica Greene and Martin Tusler of the University of Oregon assesses Medicare beneficiaries’ knowledge of Medicare Part D and the differences between the fee-for-service Medicare program and Medicare Advantage plans; and identifies which factors contribute to differences in knowledge levels and attitudes about information seeking. (56 pages) (Publication ID: 2006-12)

Early Effects of the Medicare Modernization Act: Benefits, Cost Sharing, and Premiums of Medicare Advantage Plans, 2005  / Research Report
April 2005— The effects of payment changes enacted in the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) on Medicare Advantage premiums, benefits, and cost sharing charges for 2005 are examined in this AARP Public Policy Institute Issue Paper by Lori Achman and Lindsay Harris, both of Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (43 pages) (Publication ID: 2005-02)

Medicare+Choice: Payment Issues in Rural and Low Payment Areas  / Research Report
April 2001— How well have government efforts to encourage HMOs offer services to Medicare beneficiaries in low payment and rural areas worked? An AARP Public Policy Institute Data Digest analysis by Joyce Dubow. (6 pages) (Publication ID: DD60)

Payment to Medicare+Choice Organizations  / Research Report
April 2000— The payment methodology used by the Health Care Financing Administration to pay M+C organizations is examined in this AARP Public Policy Institute Data Digest by Joyce Dubow. (5 pages) (Publication ID: DD47)

An Assessment of Medicare Beneficiaries' Understanding of the Differences Between the Traditional Medicare Program and HMOs  / Research Report
June 1998— This study for the AARP Public Policy Institute by Dr. Judith Hibbard, P.H., and Jacquelyn Jewett, Ph.D., from the University of Oregon, Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management assesses how well Medicare beneficiaries understand the differences between the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program and HMOs and whether they understand the implications each of these options has for costs choice, and care. (89 pages) (Publication ID: 9805)