TY - JOUR
T1 - Medicare advantage plans at a crossroads - Yet again
AU - Berenson, Robert A.
AU - Dowd, Bryan E.
PY - 2009/1
Y1 - 2009/1
N2 - Since risk-taking, private health insurance plans were introduced into Medicare twenty-five years ago, policymakers have disagreed on these plans' fundamental purposes. Articulated objectives, which include improving quality, reducing government spending, providing additional benefits (without expanding the entitlement), increasing choices for beneficiaries, and providing benchmark competition for traditional Medicare, are plausible but sometimes conflicting. The program's history demonstrates continuous shifts in emphasis on these objectives. We enumerate the differing advantages of public and private plans in Medicare and argue that policymakers should focus their efforts on leveling the public-private playing field, thereby dealing forthrightly with the reality of growing fiscal problems.
AB - Since risk-taking, private health insurance plans were introduced into Medicare twenty-five years ago, policymakers have disagreed on these plans' fundamental purposes. Articulated objectives, which include improving quality, reducing government spending, providing additional benefits (without expanding the entitlement), increasing choices for beneficiaries, and providing benchmark competition for traditional Medicare, are plausible but sometimes conflicting. The program's history demonstrates continuous shifts in emphasis on these objectives. We enumerate the differing advantages of public and private plans in Medicare and argue that policymakers should focus their efforts on leveling the public-private playing field, thereby dealing forthrightly with the reality of growing fiscal problems.
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U2 - 10.1377/hlthaff.28.1.w29
DO - 10.1377/hlthaff.28.1.w29
M3 - Review article
C2 - 19029151
AN - SCOPUS:59449096389
SN - 0278-2715
VL - 28
SP - w29-w40
JO - Health Affairs
JF - Health Affairs
IS - 1
ER -