Coping with managed care: responding to the needs of the elderly. Grantmakers In Health

This report is the second in a series of programs made possible by a grant to Grantmakers In Health (GIH) from The Commonwealth Fund to bring grantmakers together with experts in policy, practice, and research to exchange information and ideas about key health issues facing the nation. On June 17, 1999, GIH convened a small group of grantmakers along with officials from the Health Care Financing Administration and other experts in consumer education, managed care, and health services research for an Issue Dialogue on managed care and the elderly. Intended to both share lessons learned and stimulate new ideas, the Issue Dialogue proved to be a lively and insightful forum on what health funders can do to support development of consumer information, tools, and program models for this vulnerable population. This Issue Brief brings together key points from the day's discussion with factual information on managed care within the Medicare program and grantmaker activities drawn from a background paper prepared for Dialogue participants.