MEDICARE+CHOICE: Pricing Pilots Under Fire in MO, AZ
Senators from Missouri and Kansas issued a statement yesterday calling for the cancelation of a Medicare HMO competitive pricing pilot planned for Kansas City, MO -- the latest in a series of local objections that have deep-sixed the program elsewhere. Sens. John Ashcroft (R-MO), Kit Bond (R-MO), Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) issued a statement arguing, "The likely effects of the upcoming federal health care project in Kansas City are higher premiums for senior citizens and financial pressure to change health care plans, even if it means giving up their preferred physician. ... We believe that halting this project is necessary to protect the health care of senior citizens and to assure that Medicare beneficiaries continue to have access to excellent care at prices they can afford." Pilot programs in Denver and Baltimore were scrapped in the face of local opposition. Dr. Robert Berenson, co-chair of the Medicare Competitive Pricing Advisory Committee, defended the projects' ability to provide high-quality care and disseminate information to beneficiaries (Karash, Kansas City Star, 7/1).
Not in Our Market
The pricing project in Phoenix, AZ, is also in trouble, especially in the wake of recent Medicare HMO pullouts. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Arizona announced Tuesday that it will completely discontinue its Medicare HMO plan, a decision that senior vice president Richard Hannon said was made in part because of the pilot. He said, "It adds a level of uncertainty to the market." Jim Hertel, publisher of a managed care newsletter, agreed, saying, "We have no idea what the benefit plan (that plans will bid on) will be, and that's what is so scary about it. Right now, we don't know what is being offered until the bureaucrats get done dinking around with it." Blue Cross' withdrawal will affect about 13,000 enrollees. The Arizona Republic reports that local officials have asked to push back the start of the pilot program from April, 2000 to sometime in 2001 (Snyder, 7/2).