Teamwork in Managed Care
As enrollment in Medicare managed care grows (by 2003, 33% of all Medicare
recipients will be in managed care), physicians and health care providers working in outpatient
and in-patient settings will begin seeing an increasing number of older patients
enrolled in such programs.
For older patients living on restricted incomes, the Medicare managed programs
offer attractive benefits that are not available in Medicare fee-for-service.
Medicare beneficiaries join Medicare managed care programs for a variety of
reasons including:
-
Outpatient drug benefit
Doctor in network
Vision benefit
Anticipated value
Breadth of coverage
Convenient locations
Affordability
Dental coverage
Hospital affiliations
After enrollment, Medicare managed care members stay in these programs for
three reasons:
-
Customer service
Access to and choice of specialists
Outpatient drug benefit
