Medicaid enrollment choice into managed care health plans

Rural Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) Medicaid recipients were surveyed to identify factors that influenced their enrollment choice between two managed care health plans and the traditional Medicaid free-for-service plan. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses provided evidence that the Medicaid institutional information structure directly influenced recipient decision to enroll in managed care plans. Current smokers were more likely to choose a managed care plan in this sample. There was no evidence that health status, health service use patterns, marital status, or ethnicity was related to the enrollment decision. Of those who chose the traditional Medicaid fee-for-service plan, 41 percent reported that they did not understand what managed care was.