Lessons from Medicare’s Demonstration Projects on Disease Management, Care Coordination, and Value-Based Payment

An important part of the national debate about how to manage federal spending in the decades ahead has focused on spending for Medicare, which is expected to account for a large and ever-increasing share of the federal budget. Medicare provides health insurance to almost everyone who is 65 or older and to people under age 65 who receive Social Security Disability Insurance benefits (after a waiting period) or have certain serious health conditions. Many observers point out that improving the effectiveness of Medicare spending might allow both for reductions in federal spending from its projected path and for improved health care for Medicare beneficiaries.