Medicare Advantage

“Medicare's Private Plans: A Report Card on Medicare Advantage.” Marsha Gold, Health Affairs web exclusive, November 24, 2008. With higher payments and expanded private-plan authority, Medicare Advantage (MA) has caused the market to grow. One in three Medicare beneficiaries with Part D now gets this coverage through MA. Analysis of the sources of and reasons for enrollment growth suggest a troubling report card. Clearly, the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) has expanded choice and the private-sector role. But it also has added to Medicare's complexity and costs and has created potential inequities, without apparent improvements in quality. However the debate ends, a stronger system of performance monitoring and accountability is needed to meet Medicare's essential fiduciary requirements and oversight responsibilities. Read the press release.

Health System Performance

“Using Physician Payment Reform to Enhance Health System Performance.” Marsha Gold and Suzanne Felt-Lisk, December 2008. The United States health care system performs poorly on many key objectives, and enhancing the system is at the top of the policy agenda. Improving the payment methods used to compensate and reward physicians could go a long way toward creating a more high-performing health care system. This policy brief explores what is known about using physician payment to improve health system performance, suggesting that future priorities move beyond pay for performance of individual services and reward physicians for influencing totality of a patient’s care across all providers and settings.

Education Research

“Infusing Academics into Career and Technical Education.” Trends in Education Research, Issue Brief #3. Joshua Haimson, James R. Stone, III, and Donna Person, December 2008. Integrating academic learning into career and technical education (CTE) classes can be challenging for educators and curriculum developers but can be aided by securing detailed feedback from CTE teachers. Drawing on a recent study, this issue brief identifies challenges developers faced in infusing more math into CTE curricula and notes that incorporating academic learning into CTE requires substantial time, effort, and other resources.

National Survey of Older Americans

“Results from the Administration on Aging’s Third National Survey of Older Americans Act Program Participants.” Jody Beauchamp and Lisa Trebino, March 2008. The Administration on Aging strives to improve the quality of life for older Americans, in part by providing services that allow the most vulnerable to maintain their independence and avoid institutionalization. This report documents findings from the 2005 Third National Survey of Older Americans Act Title III Program Participants, which interviewed clients receiving home-delivered meals, transportation services, and caregiver support. Clients in 2005 were more vulnerable than the overall population of older Americans. Programs were very well-liked; 94 percent of home-delivered meals clients, 98 percent of transportation services clients, and 94 percent of caregivers reported their satisfaction to be good, very good, or excellent. Further, services had a meaningful impact on the lives of clients; 93 percent of home-delivered meals clients reported that the meals allowed them to continue to live in their own home, 43 percent of transportation services recipients relied on the service for almost all of their rides, and 54 percent of caregivers said that receiving support services enabled their care recipient to live at home for a longer period of time.

Health Coverage

“Using Section 125-Premium-Only Plans to Expand Health Coverage.” Lynn Quincy, September 2008. IRS Section 125 employee benefit plans lower taxable income and tax liability by letting employees pay their share of employer health insurance premiums on a pre-tax basis. This issue brief explores how states are using these plans to increase access to health coverage. Workers whose employers offer them health coverage but pay their premiums after taxes could benefit from policies expanding use of Section 125, which makes offered coverage more affordable. Despite advantages for workers, many small employers do not offer these plans because employers are not familiar with them or with the tax treatment of employer-sponsored health benefits more generally. Read the press release.

What Works Clearinghouse

The National Board of Education Sciences released a report from an independent panel that was asked to examine the scientific integrity of the What Works Clearinghouse review process. The panel concluded that “WWC procedures and processes for identifying and extracting information from intervention studies are generally well documented and follow reasonable standards and practices for systematic reviews.”

National Mental Health Survey

Mathematica has been awarded a three-year, $2.5 million contract to conduct the 2010 National Mental Health Services Survey for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The survey, formerly named the National Survey of Mental Health Treatment Facilities, collects data on the types of services and special programs offered, types of payments accepted, and number of clients being served by the mental health services industry. Read the press release.

World's Largest Longitudinal Survey of New Businesses

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has extended the Kauffman Firm Survey—the largest longitudinal survey of new businesses in the world—to collect four more years of data. The survey fills a void in understanding about how new businesses in the United States develop and the factors that influence the success or failure of new business ventures. Mathematica has completed the baseline and two years of follow-up data collection, and is currently collecting third follow-up data about the activities businesses in the panel conducted in 2007. The additional funding will extend the study to seven follow-up periods, which will help examine the effect of the current economic downturn on new business financing and outcomes. Read the press release.

Margaret Barnwell Hargreaves has joined Mathematica’s Cambridge office as a senior researcher. Hargreaves is an expert in complex systems change initiatives, collaborative public health and health care partnerships, disparities in health and health care, HIV/AIDS services, and utilization-focused evaluation. Read the release.