Policy Update

The effort that Medicare beneficiaries devote to learning about Medicare coverage and the amount of knowledge they retain is directly related to the length of the explanatory materials and placement of information on quality, cost and benefits, a study in Medical Care Research and Review found.

The authors recommend that providers of Medicare education materials simplify the information and put the most important topics in the early pages to better educate beneficiaries about the plans.

This week's Health Policy Research Update also includes:

• Research addressing the management of chronic illnesses in community health centers; and
  
• A paper examining U.S. residents' feelings about health care reform.