Research Objectives: Medicaid agencies are required to provide comparative health plan information that enrollees can easily understand. However, Medicaid enrollees are a disenfranchised group with lower than average literacy levels. High automatic health plan assignment rates indicate that many enrollees may not understand and use the available information.
Methods: To develop and test reports of health plan quality, focus groups and interviews were conducted with Medicaid enrollees in Massachusetts and Washington State.
Results: Participants in both states expressed interest in receiving quality information about Medicaid managed care plans, however many were more likely to rely on personal recommendations than on consumer reports. Comprehension of the quality information varied greatly, from very low among Massachusetts participants to very high among Washington participants. Before selecting a plan, many would want to contact an enrollment broker, social worker, provider, or health plan representative who could answer their questions and validate and integrate the health plan information.
Conclusions: Medicaid enrollees value information about health plan quality. Shorter and simpler reports are preferred thus the desire to educate and inform consumers must be balanced with the consumers' need for brevity. This is especially true for low literacy populations. For many, printed materials alone are not sufficient. Guidance from an objective and informed third party might enable more enrollees to correctly interpret and use the information in quality reports.
Learning Objectives: - to identify ways of effectively communicating health plan quality information to Medicaid enrollees
Keywords: Medicaid Managed Care, Health Communications
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Massachusetts and Washington State Medicaid Programs
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.