title: Understanding the impacts of the Medicare Modernization Act: concerns of congressional staff.
abstract: Sweeping changes to the Medicare program embodied in the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), including a new prescription drug benefit, changes in payment policies, and reform of the Medicare managed-care program, have major implications for rural health care. The most efficient mechanism for research to affect policy is to provide policy makers with information on issues about which they have voiced concern. The Rural Policy Research Institute's Health Panel conducted 2 focus groups with 16 congressional staff in September 2004 to identify a set of researchable questions concerning the impact of the MMA on rural health care. This paper presents research questions in the following areas that staff identified as having the highest priority: access to health plans and pharmacy services, beneficiary outreach and enrollment, technology capacity, provider payment policy, and demonstration projects.
authors.affiliation: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis, Department of Preventive and Societal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska 68198-4350, USA. kmueller@unmc.edu
authors.forename: Keith J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Andrew F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Coburn
authors.forename: A Clinton
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: MacKinney
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: McBride
authors.forename: Rebecca T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Slifkin
authors.forename: Mary K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Wakefield
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006291:Health Policy; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007356:Insurance, Pharmaceutical Services / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006278:Medicare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011057:Politics; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States