Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #105927

Fiona D. Smith, MPH¹, Suzanne Rotwein, PhD², Alyson Burns, MPH³, Sally Crelia, MPH⁴, and Lauren Blatt³. (1) Outcome Sciences, 201 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139, (617) 947-7335, fsmith@outcome.com, (2) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 7500 Security Blvd, Baltimore, MD 21244, (3) Health Services Research & Management Group, BearingPoint, 99 High Street, 22- 359, Boston, MA 02110, (4) Health Services Research & Management Group, BearingPoint, Inc., 1676 International Drive, McLean, VA 22012

SESSION TITLE: Providing Medicare Information through employers: What are the opportunities and challenges post Medicare Modernization Act? PRESENTATION TITLE: Disseminating Medicare information through employers: Findings from focus groups with human resource managers, retirees, pre-retirees, and employee caregivers

The goal of this research was to assess how employers disseminate Medicare information to three audiences: retirees, pre-retirees, and employee caregivers. The BearingPoint research team, under contract to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), conducted a literature review as well as focus groups with the three intended audiences and human resource managers at a variety of public and private organizations in three states: California, Maryland, and Texas. Results suggest that recent changes in the market, including decreased job security and the outsourcing of human resource management, have affected employers' willingness and ability to disseminate Medicare information. At the same time, the increasing number of elderly people and elder caregivers in the workforce has increased the potential demand for Medicare information at the workplace. This presentation discusses both the opportunities to provide Medicare education at the workplace and the challenges inherent in this effort.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the opportunities to disseminate Medicare information through employers
• Name the barriers that prevent employers from educating retirees, pre-retirees, and employee caregivers about Medicare
• Identify common misconceptions about Medicare among human resource personnel and the employed population

Keywords: Medicare, Employer-Provided Health Insurance

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.