HMOs in the Medicare market. Part 1

Final governmental regulations permitting all qualified health maintenance organizations and competitive medical plans to enter the Medicare market were published early last year. This action has created a significant need for information on marketing strategies and operational issues pertaining to this new area. Mathematica Policy Research was awarded a grant by HCFA to evaluate the Medicare Competition Demonstration program undertaken by 26 HMOs and CMPs between August 1982 and December 1984, with a focus on the marketing strategies and operational decisions and changes during the initial period of entering the Medicare market. In this first part of a two-part report, information is provided on the marketing approaches developed by the demonstration HMOs as they dealt with, in most cases, a large influx of elderly enrollees.