United States Senate Special Committee on Aging
Hearings

Reforming Medicare Payment: Increasing Choice and Equity

May 19, 1997



The committee will examine the current Medicare payment system, focusing on managed care payment. Currently, monthly payments per beneficiary range from a low of $221 in Arthur County, Nebraska, to a high of $767 in Richmond County, New York. People have expressed concern that the lack of equity within the system denies many "low payment area" Medicare beneficiaries the same choice of joining a managed care plan that "high payment area" beneficiaries enjoy. Medicare managed care plans usually offer benefits, such as pharmaceuticals and lower co-pays, not available to standard fee-for-service enrollees. The committee will look for ways to restructure the current payment system to bring equity and choice to all beneficiaries.

Date: May 19, 1997
Time: 2:00 pm
Room: 562 Dirksen


Statements of Committee Members

  1. Senator Chuck Grassley, Chairman, Iowa
  2. Senator John Breaux, Ranking Member, Louisiana

Witness Testimony Panel 1

  1. Hans Running, Medicare beneficiary, Hillsboro, OR (written statement not available)

  2. William Scanlon, Ph.D., Director, Health Financing and Systems, U.S. General Accounting Office; Washington, DC

  3. Steve Brenton, President and CEO, Association of Iowa Hospitals and Health Systems; Des Moines, IA

  4. Doug Dillon, Medicare Program Executive, Providence Health Plans, Portland, OR (written statement not available)


Witness Testimony Panel 2

  1. Susan Foote, President, Coalition for Fairness in Medicare, Washington, DC (written statement nto available)

  2. David Colby, Ph.D., Deputy Director, Physician Payment Review Commission, Washington, DC

  3. Kenneth Thorpe, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Health Systems Management; Director, Institute for Health Services Research, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA

Hearing Publications

  • Committee on Aging Report 105-05