Medicare Health Plan Tracker: Interactive Online Resource

Medicare Advantage plans now cover about 9 million of the 44 million people in the Medicare population, up from about 6 million in 2006. Mathematica developed the Medicare Health Plan Tracker, an interactive online resource on Medicare Advantage plans, for the Kaiser Family Foundation. To help people monitor changes in private plans in Medicare, the tracker has been updated 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.

Mathematica developed the Tracker using the following publicly available data files from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services:

• Geographic Service Area Report: Provides information on the enrollment in each Medicare managed care contract at the county level.
• Market Penetration, Quarterly State/County Data File: Provides information on the number of Medicare beneficiaries eligible to enroll in a Medicare managed care plan for each county in the United States.
• Medicare+Choice/Medicare Advantage Ratebook: Provides information on the Medicare managed care payment rates for years 2001 and 2004 because of changes in legislation.
• Medicare Health Plan Compare: Provides information on the plan benefits in each health plan's benefit package.

Mathematica also prepares the Medicare Health and Prescription Drug Plans Monthly Tracking Report, which includes summaries of recent activities and reports pertaining to the Medicare Advantage program and Medicare prescription drug plans.

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