Prepaid capitation versus fee-for-service reimbursement in a Medicaid population.
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Utilization of health resources by 37,444 Medicaid recipients enrolled in a capitated health maintenance organization was compared with that of 227,242 Medicaid recipients enrolled in a traditional fee-for-service system over a 1-year period (1983-1984) in the state of Kentucky. Primary care providers in the capitated program had financial incentives to reduce downstream costs like specialist referral, emergency room use, and hospitalizations. The average number of physician visits was similar for both groups (4.47/year in the capitated program; 5.09/year in the fee-for-service system). However, the average number of prescriptions (1.9 versus 4.9 per year), average number of hospital admissions per recipient (0.11 versus 0.22 per year), and average number of hospital days per 1,000 recipients (461 versus 909 per year) were 5% to 60% lower in the capitated group than in the fee-for-service group. The Citicare capitated program resulted in a dramatic reduction in healthcare resource utilization compared with the concurrent fee-for-service system for statewide Medicaid recipients. (+info)
The relation of household income to mammography utilization in a prepaid health care system.
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Managed care organizations should be expected to provide equivalent access to preventive and screening services to all members. We studied mammography in 1,667 women members of one HMO who had an overall utilization rate of 84.9%. Significant correlates of mammography utilization included age, estimated household income, and division of the managed care organization in which the member was enrolled. Each $10,000 increment of income increased mammography rates by 2.5 percentage points (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4% to 3.6%), independent of age and division. Our findings suggest that coverage for mammography services is not sufficient to ensure equivalent use of screening across income groups. (+info)
Medicaid program; Medicaid managed care. Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), HHS. Final rule with comment period.
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This final rule with comment period amends the Medicaid regulations to implement provisions of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) that allow the States greater flexibility by permitting them to amend their State plan to require certain categories of Medicaid beneficiaries to enroll in managed care entities without obtaining waivers if beneficiary choice is provided; establish new beneficiary protections in areas such as quality assurance, grievance rights, and coverage of emergency services; eliminate certain requirements viewed by State agencies as impediments to the growth of managed care programs, such as the enrollment composition requirement, the right to disenroll without cause at any time, and the prohibition against enrollee cost-sharing. In addition, this final rule expands on regulatory beneficiary protections provided to enrollees of prepaid health plans (PHPs) by requiring that PHPs comply with specified BBA requirements that would not otherwise apply to PHPs. (+info)
The Bambui Health and Aging Study (BHAS): private health plan and medical care utilization by older adults.
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The aim of this cross sectional study was to investigate whether holding a private health plan affects the consumption of medical services (hospitalization and visits to a doctor) and use of medications by older adults. All residents in Bambui town (Minas Gerais, Brazil) aged >/= 60 years (n = 1,742) were selected. From these, 92.2% were interviewed and 85.9% were examined (blood tests and physical measurements). After adjustments for worse health status, reported less visits to a doctor, and used a small number of prescribed medications. The main explanation for the aged holding a private health plan was economic, not health. Even though those who had only public health coverage complained more in relation to medical care (70.9%), an important proportion of the aged with a private health care plan presented some kind of complaint (45.2%). Another worrying factor was the difficulty to acquire medication because of financial problems (47.2 and 25.2% reported, respectively). Further investigations are needed to verify whether our results can be generalized to other communities of the country. (+info)
Medicaid program; Medicaid managed care. Withdrawal of final rule with comment period.
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This document withdraws all provisions of the final rule with comment period on Medicaid managed care that we published in the Federal Register on January 19, 2001 (66 FR 6228) with an initial effective date of April 19, 2001. This January 19, 2001 final rule, which has never taken effect, would have combined Medicaid managed care regulations in a new part 438, implemented Medicaid managed care requirements of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (Pub. L. 105-33), and imposed new requirements on entities currently regulated as "prepaid health plans'' (PHPs). The regulations set forth in the final rule being withdrawn have been superseded by regulations promulgated in a subsequent rulemaking initiated on August 20, 2001 (66 FR 43613). In addition, this document addresses comments received in response to an interim final rule with comment period that we published on August 17, 2001 in the Federal Register (66 FR 43090) that further delayed, until August 16, 2002, the effective date of the January 19, 2001 final rule with comment period. (+info)
Medicaid program; Medicaid managed care: new provisions. Final rule.
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This final rule amends the Medicaid regulations to implement provisions of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) that allow the States greater flexibility by permitting them to amend their State plan to require certain categories of Medicaid beneficiaries to enroll in managed care entities without obtaining waivers if beneficiary choice is provided; establish new beneficiary protections in areas such as quality assurance, grievance rights, and coverage of emergency services; and eliminate certain requirements viewed by State agencies as impediments to the growth of managed care programs, such as, the enrollment composition requirement, the right to disenroll without cause at any time, and the prohibition against enrollee cost-sharing. (+info)
Sampling patients within physician practices and health plans: multistage cluster samples in health services research.
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OBJECTIVE: To better inform study design decisions when sampling patients within health plans and physician practices with multiple analysis goals. STUDY SETTING: Chronic eye care patients within six health plans across the United States. STUDY DESIGN: We developed a simulation-based approach for designing multistage samples. We created a range of candidate designs, evaluated them with respect to multiple sampling goals, investigated their tradeoffs, and identified the design that is the best compromise among all goals. This approach recognizes that most data collection efforts have multiple competing goals. DATA COLLECTION: We constructed a sample frame from all diabetic patients in six health plans with evidence of chronic eye disease (glaucoma and retinopathy). PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Simulations of different study designs can uncover efficiency gains as well as inform potential tradeoffs among study goals. Simulations enable us to quantify these efficiency gains and to draw tradeoff curves. CONCLUSIONS: When designing a complex multistage sample it is desirable to explore the tradeoffs between competing sampling goals via simulation. Simulations enable us to investigate a larger number of candidate designs and are therefore likely to identify more efficient designs. (+info)
Use of e-Health services between 1999 and 2002: a growing digital divide.
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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the patterns of e-Health use over a four-year period and the characteristics of users. DESIGN: Longitudinal, population-based study (1999-2002) of members of a prepaid integrated delivery system. Available e-Health services included ordering prescription drug refills, scheduling appointments, and asking medical questions. MEASUREMENTS: Rates of known access to e-Health services, and of e-Health use each quarter. RESULTS: The number of members with known e-Health access increased from 51,336 (1.6%) in 1999 to 324,522 (9.3%), in 2002. The percentage of households in which at least one person in the household had access increased from 2.7% to 14.1%. Among the subjects with known access, the percentage of subjects that used e-Health at least once increased from 25.7% in 1999 to 36.2% in 2002. In the multivariate analysis, subjects who had a low expected clinical need, were nonwhite, or lived in low socioeconomic status (SES) neighborhoods were less likely to have used e-Health services in 2002. Disparities by race/ethnicity and SES persisted after controlling for access to e-Health and widened over time. CONCLUSION: Access to and use of e-Health services are growing rapidly. Use of these services appears to be greatest among persons with more medical need. The majority of subjects, however, do not use any e-Health services. More research is needed to determine potential reasons for disparities in e-Health use by race/ethnicity and SES as well as the implications of these disparities on clinical outcomes. (+info)