An interesting new RWJ funded report from The Center on Health Insurance Reforms, Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, discusses the similarities between the launching of the Medicare Part D program and the online marketplace exchanges, particularly as they are going to impact enrollment.
The report “draws lessons from the launch of the Medicare prescription drug plan in 2003 to put the challenges facing health insurance exchanges today in to context. The authors say that while Medicare Part D is still not perfect, those implementing the program were successful in addressing problems as they arose, which they say may also bode well for the implementation of the health insurance exchanges.
The report looks at four key areas in which officials implementing insurance exchanges should look to Medicare Part D for lessons:
- Wariness before program implementation
- Education and outreach
- Eligibility and enrollment
- Consumer assistance”