Methodologies for informing beneficiaries of their rights: evaluating the Important Message from Medicare

The Important Message from Medicare, a letter given to US Medicare patients upon hospital admission, was originally designed to allay the concerns of the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), Peer Review Organizations (PROs), and the beneficiary community that patients did not know their rights under Medicare and the PRO program. The effectiveness of the current Message may be adversely affected by the complexity of its language, the multifaceted admissions process, priorities of sick patients, and the demand for hospital resources. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Message and various alternatives for informing beneficiaries of their rights. With HCFA financing, PROs in 10 states surveyed random samples of Medicare beneficiaries to measure knowledge of their rights under the current system and after the implementation of alternatives. This study found that there are alternative ways of informing Medicare beneficiaries of their rights which are more effective than the current Important Message from Medicare.