Do Content and Format Affect Older Consumers’ Use of Comparative Information in a Medicare Health Plan Choice? Results from a Controlled Experiment

Abstract

We assessed the efficacy of materials that integrated comparative information on cost, benefits, and quality for employer-based retiree health plans and Medicare Advantage plans in a randomized experiment to test the impact of content and format. Results indicate that older consumers who received the intervention materials found the materials easier to use, gained greater knowledge about Medicare from them, were more likely to value comparative quality information, were more likely to select higher quality plans, and were more likely to choose a plan that reflected the dimensions they found most important compared to older consumers receiving the control materials.

The “Choose With Care System”—Development of Education Materials to Support Informed Medicare Health Plan Choices

“…15 See Uhrig et al (2006) for more details on the experiments. 16 We controlled for gender, race, household income, self-reported health status, education, and the interaction of education by study group.…”

Themes affecting health-care consumers’ choice of a hospital for elective surgery when receiving web-based comparative consumer information

“…The use of CCI in laboratory situations leads to a preference for plans with lower costs, whereas in real-world settings it leads to a preference for plans with higher quality. CCI has been developed for health plans [4,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] and -more recentlyfor long-term care facilities [24]; CCI for hospitals is still under development [25].…”

Impact of an Elective Course on Pharmacy Students’ Attitudes, Beliefs, and Competency Regarding Medicare Part D

“…14 Moreover, the Plan Finder Tool has proven difficult to navigate, even for the most Internet-savvy seniors. 15 Accordingly, such an elaborate process calls for beneficiary advocacy, which presents a unique opportunity for pharmacists and pharmacy students.…”