IMPORTANCE Take-up of the Medicare Part D low-income subsidy (LIS) by eligible beneficiaries has been low despite the attractive drug coverage it offers at no cost to beneficiaries and outreach efforts by the Social Security Administration. OBJECTIVE To examine the role of beneficiaries' cognitive abilities in explaining this puzzle. DESIGN AND SETTING Analysis of survey data from the natio...

OBJECTIVES To examine the association of medication adherence with healthcare use and costs among Medicaid beneficiaries with congestive heart failure (CHF), to investigate whether the association was a graded one, and to estimate the potential savings due to improved adherence. STUDY DESIGN Using Medicare and Medicaid data for 4 states, adherence was estimated using the medication possession...

CONTEXT Emerging technologies, changing diagnostic and treatment patterns, and changes in Medicare reimbursement are contributing to increasing use of imaging in cancer. Imaging is the fastest growing expense for Medicare but has not been examined among beneficiaries with cancer. OBJECTIVE To examine changes in the use of imaging and how those changes contribute to the overall cost of cancer ...

The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) is a longitudinal survey of a nationally representative sample of Medicare enrollees. The survey collects information on a variety of topics including beneficiaries' health status. This information is collected from two groups of beneficiaries: those living in the community and those living in facilities. Information is obtained on specific medical...

As Medicare cost increase, policymakers are searching for equitable ways to secure the program's financial base. Proposals that would require higher-income Medicare beneficiaries to pay a higher proportion of the program's costs are designed to increase beneficiaries' contribution without placing an unacceptable financial burden on those least able to afford it. Designing and implementing suc...

(MCBS) tracks health care expenditures for 12,000 beneficiaries. The survey is unique because it combines survey data with Medicare administrative data to give a detailed portrait of health care spending for Medicare beneficiaries. The MCBS provides health care expenditures for the Medicare population by service and payer, and it allows for analysis by demographic and socioeconomic characterist...

Most capitated programs have not generated innovative ways to organize care, but have instead concentrated on enrolling healthy beneficiaries and using crude controls on service use. Competition can lead to a number of problems for beneficiaries, including instability in the care they receive. Choice of plans will not offer many advantages for beneficiaries, particularly since it is important t...