Interactive Online Medicare Health Plan Tracker with Updated 2008 Medicare Advantage and Stand-Alone Drug Plans Data

Kaiser Also Issues Report on Medicare Special Needs Plans
Wednesday, January 23, 2008


Medicare Advantage plans now cover about 9 million of the 44 million people in the Medicare population, up from about 6 million in 2006. The rapid enrollment growth among Medicare Advantage plans is sparking debate in Congress about appropriate payment levels.

To help people monitor changes in private plans in Medicare, the Kaiser Family Foundation has updated its interactive online resource, the Medicare Health and Prescription Drug Plan Tracker, with new 2008 data. The Tracker provides local, regional and national information about Medicare Advantage plans, including HMOs, regional and local PPOs, private fee-for-service plans, and special needs plans. It also includes current information on stand-alone prescription drug plans offered, along with updated 2007 enrollment data for Medicare Advantage and stand-alone prescription drug plans. The online tool can be used to monitor changes in Medicare Advantage enrollment over time within counties, states and nationally.

In addition, the Foundation has released a new report examining special needs plans, a type of Medicare Advantage plan that serves individuals who are institutionalized, individuals covered under both Medicare and Medicaid, or those with chronic or disabling conditions. Enrollment in special needs plans has doubled in the past year, and many expect continued enrollment growth with the emergence of new plans in 2008. Prepared for the Foundation by researchers at Mathematica Policy Research, the report describes the history of these plans, how they fit into the larger Medicare Advantage marketplace, and how to assess whether special needs plans are performing differently from other Medicare Advantage plans.

The report, “Do We Know If Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plans Are Special?” is available online.