Improving the Medicare Market: Adding Choice and Protections

Medicare beneficiaries are rapidly moving into managed care, as attempts to restrain the growth of this costly entitlement program progress. However, advocates for patients question whether the necessary information and structures are in place to enable Medicare consumers to select wisely among private-sector managed care options. Improving the Medicare Market examines how to give Medicare beneficiaries the same choice of health plan options enjoyed in the private sector - yet protect them as consumers and patients. This book recommends approaches to ensuring accountability and informed purchasing for Medicare beneficiaries in an environment of broader choice and managed care - how the government should evaluate and approve plans, what role the traditional Medicare program should play, how to help to elderly understand their options, and many other practical matters. The committee discusses the information requirements of Medicare beneficiaries and explores in detail how best to respond to their special needs. And, it examines the procedures that should be developed to provide the necessary protections for the elderly in a managed care system.