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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MCOL
Analysis of Medicare HMO withdrawals available at www.medicarehmo.com
MODESTO, CA
---July 27, 2000 MCOLÔ (mcol.com), the leading health care information technology
company specializing in delivering business-to-business managed care knowledge
resources, has just released analysis of the final 2001 Medicare HMO market
withdrawal data issued from the Health Care Financing Administration for the
Medicare + Choice program.
Claire Thayer,
MCOL Vice President of Research and Development states “while its clear that
934,000 Medicare HMO beneficiaries are affected by withdrawal announcements, our
findings are that the overall impact of
Medicare HMO market withdrawals for 2001 may be less than perceived at first
impression, and that the impact is certainly dictated by the actions of two
specific companies, Aetna and Cigna, and local markets. Most regional markets
are not materially affected, however, some specific markets are significantly
affected.”
Key MCOL findings include:
1. While headlines declare that almost one million Medicare HMO beneficiaries will lose their Medicare HMO coverage, as noted by HCFA, almost half (49% or 459,000) of this exodus came from two health plans, Aetna and Cigna (54% of Aetna Medicare HMO members and 67% of Cigna Medicare HMO members were affected). The withdrawal picture certainly looks much different without the impact of these two plans.
2. Only 17% (159,000) of those affected are in markets where there is not another Medicare HMO, while 83% of affected beneficiaries are in markets where other Medicare HMOs are available for coverage.
3.
While 464 counties were affected by the withdrawal
announcements, over half of these counties (59%) had no members enrolled in
Medicare HMOs. Another 26% of these counties had less than 500 Medicare HMO
members, leaving only 15% of affected counties with more than 500 Medicare HMO
members affected.
4.
Texas was hit the hardest. Texas
had the most affected members in the country (180,749) which was 55% of
their total Medicare HMO members. Seven
counties nationally had five or more plans withdraw, six of these seven were in
Texas.
5.
Sixteen states had less than 5% of their members affected, including
California with almost 1.5 million Medicare HMO members. Eight of these states
having none of their members impacted.
MCOL’s detailed
findings can be viewed in the latest issue of their @Medicare e-newsletter,
which is available at http://www.medicarehmo.com/enews103.htm.
Anyone can register for a free subscription to the periodic e-mail newsletter by
visiting MCOL’s Medicare HMO web site at: http://www.medicarehmo.com/regemchm.htm.
MCOL’s data reports regarding 2001 HMO market withdrawals may be viewed in the
Medicare HMO web site as well.
MCOL is a five-year-old health care Internet company delivering business-to-business managed care resources. MCOL has become the recognized Internet leader in the delivery of knowledge resources to professionals involved in managed care. MCOL business lines include: Membership-based services through Managed Care On-Line and Global Health Resources.com; e-Commerce through the Managed Care Store; and Business e-Solutions. MCOL is based in Modesto, California, with additional offices in Portland, Oregon. For more information, please visit www.mcol.com/about.htm.
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