Report to Congress on the Evaluation of Medicare Disease Management Programs.

Publication Date: February 2008

Publisher: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

Author(s): Arnold Chen; Randall Brown; Dominick Esposito; Jennifer Schore; Rachel Shapiro

Research Area: Health

Keywords: Prescription Drug Benefit; Fee-for-Service; Medicare; Disease Management

Type: Report

Abstract:

Before Medicare Part D, Congress authorized the Medicare disease management demonstration to evaluate whether disease management programs--in conjunction with a comprehensive prescription drug benefit--could improve health outcomes and reduce Medicare expenditures. The demonstration targeted fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries with advanced congestive heart failure, diabetes, or coronary artery disease. This congressionally mandated study found that, based on the population-based random assignment design, none of the three demonstration programs had impacts on key outcomes of Medicare Part A and B expenditures and service use.