Medicare Advantage

“2006 Medicare Advantage Benefits and Premiums.” Marsha Gold, Maria Cupples Hudson, and Sarah Davis, November 2006. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 substantially changed the Medicare program by adding a prescription drug benefit and expanding the role of private health plans. This paper analyzes the benefits and premiums of Medicare Advantage plans in 2006, including trends in relation to prior years, differences by plan type, and the level of financial protection plans of diverse types provide beneficiaries, particularly those needing substantial care. A special section examines the Special Needs Plans available for beneficiaries who are institutionalized, dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, or have multiple chronic conditions. In their concluding observations, the authors address policy and operational challenges that emerge from their analysis.

Supplemental Medicare Coverage

"Do Determinants of Medicare Supplemental Coverage Choice Vary by Income?" Erin Fries Taylor, Michael Chernew, and Catherine McLaughlin, Journal of Health & Social Policy, vol. 22, 2006. Using data from the Community Tracking Study Household Survey (1998-1999), the authors estimate the relationship between Medigap premiums and senior Medicare beneficiaries’ supplemental coverage decisions. All seniors are more likely to be enrolled in an HMO in markets with higher Medigap prices. Lower-income seniors are particularly sensitive to Medigap premiums and more likely to have no supplemental coverage when faced with higher Medigap premiums. As Medicare supplemental options evolve in response to the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, lower-income beneficiaries may respond to price changes and other factors differently than their higher-income counterparts.

Read more about the Community Tracking Study.

Pediatric Obesity

“Maternal Feeding Strategies, Child Eating Behaviors, and Child BMI in Low-Income African American Preschoolers.” Scott W. Powers, Leigh A. Chamberlin, Kelly B. van Schaick, Susan N. Sherman, and Robert C. Whitaker, Obesity, November 2006. The increasing prevalence of obesity in pediatric populations has prompted greater interest in the relationships among parent feeding practices, children’s eating behaviors, and parent and child weight status. This article found that among low-income African Americans, the positive association between maternal restriction and control in feeding and their preschoolers’ body mass index was limited to obese mothers. Relations between parent feeding strategies and child weight status in this population may differ on the basis of maternal weight status.

School to Work for Kids with Disabilities

Mathematica recently announced the addition of five new pilot projects to its nine-year, $41 million Youth Transition Demonstration study, which is developing and testing interventions to help youth with disabilities maximize their economic self-sufficiency as they move from school to work. Read about the pilots.