title: Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Enrollees Report Less Positive Experiences Than Their Medicare Advantage Counterparts.
abstract: Since 2006, Medicare beneficiaries have been able to obtain prescription drug coverage through standalone prescription drug plans or their Medicare Advantage (MA) health plan, options exercised in 2015 by 72 percent of beneficiaries. Using data from community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries older than age sixty-four in 700 plans surveyed from 2007 to 2014, we compared beneficiaries' assessments of Medicare prescription drug coverage when provided by standalone plans or integrated into an MA plan. Beneficiaries in standalone plans consistently reported less positive experiences with prescription drug plans (ease of getting medications, getting coverage information, and getting cost information) than their MA counterparts. Because MA plans are responsible for overall health care costs, they might have more integrated systems and greater incentives than standalone prescription drug plans to provide enrollees medications and information effectively, including, since 2010, quality bonus payments to these MA plans under provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
authors.affiliation: Marc N. Elliott (elliott@rand.org) is a senior principal researcher and RAND Distinguished Chair in Statistics in the Department of Economics and Statistics at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California.
authors.forename: Marc N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.affiliation: Bruce E. Landon is a professor of health care policy and medicine in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School and the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, both in Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Bruce E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Landon
authors.affiliation: Alan M. Zaslavsky is a professor in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School.
authors.forename: Alan M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Zaslavsky
authors.affiliation: Carol Edwards is a research programmer at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica.
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: Nathan Orr is a project associate at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica.
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Orr
authors.affiliation: Megan K. Beckett is a behavioral and social scientist at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica.
authors.forename: Megan K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Beckett
authors.affiliation: Joshua Mallett is a research programmer at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mallett
authors.affiliation: Paul D. Cleary is the Anna M.R. Lauder Professor of Public Health and dean of the Yale School of Public Health, in New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Cleary
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016208:Databases, Factual; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000191:economics; D007356:Insurance, Pharmaceutical Services / Q000191:economics*; D008297:Male; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020398:Medicare Part C / Q000191:economics*; D054524:Medicare Part D / Q000191:economics*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States
keywords: Managed Care - Medicare < Managed Care; Managed Care - Quality < Managed Care; Medicare; Patient experience; Quality Of Care