Joseph P. Newhouse is the principal investigator on this project. Vanessa Azzone is the project contact: 617-432-2981.

The Role of Private Plans in Medicare, funded by the National Institute on Aging, is undertaking an examination of the underpinnings of Medicare Advantage from a framework grounded in economic theory. The study consists of five projects plus an administrative core and a data and measures core.

The overarching purpose of this project is to improve the design of the Medicare Advantage program and to advance the economic, clinical, and policy literatures relating to the regulation, payment, and performance of health plans. An innovative and cost-effective Medicare Advantage program is essential for US health policy. This program has a direct effect on Medicare beneficiaries through their health insurance choices and indirect effects on the entire US health care system. With the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, the emergence of new data sources, and evolving ideas in economics about consumer behavior and industrial organization, now is an important time to establish a new standard of empirical and theoretical research on Medicare Advantage. A redesigned Medicare Advantage program could enable Medicare to become a leader in health care reform, with major benefits for the elderly, the federal government, and the US health care system.

This project is done in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente of Northern California and the National Committee for Quality Assurance. Additional co-investigators or consultants on this project are Nolan Miller (University of Illinois), Eric Schneider (RAND), Bob Town (University of Minnesota) and Jacob Glazer (Boston University).

For detailed information, visit the program project website.