Medicare Managed Care: Information Standards Would Help Beneficiaries Make More Informed Health Plan Choices: T-HEHS-98-162.

GAO reported in 1996 that beneficiaries received little or no comparative information on Medicare health maintenance organizations. (See GAO/HEHS-97-23.) GAO recommended that the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) produce plan comparison charts; require plans to use standard formats and terminology in key aspects of their marketing materials; and publicize readily available plan performance indicators, such as disenrollment rates. In addition, Medicare+Choice provisions authorize new health plan options for Medicare beneficiaries and require HCFA to provide beneficiaries with comparative information on the Medicare+Choice options. This testimony discusses the extent to which HCFA's Medicare+Choice information development efforts are likely to (1) enable beneficiaries to readily compare benefits and out-of-pocket costs using plan brochures and (2) facilitate the agency's approval of plans' marketing materials and other administrative work required of both HCFA and the health plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]