This Article Reprint (PDF) Submit a response to this article Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Personal Archive Download to Citation Manager Reprints & Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (17) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Neuman, P. Articles by Zupp, P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Neuman, P. Articles by Zupp, P. Related Collections Managed Care Managed Care - Medicare

Health Affairs, Vol 17, Issue 4, 132-139
Copyright © 1998 by Project HOPE

Health Tracking

Marketing HMOs to Medicare beneficiaries

Medicare health maintenance organizations (HMOs) market extensively to attract beneficiaries. To assess the dynamics of this marketing, this paper examines newspaper and television ads and materials from marketing seminars that are illustrative of Medicare HMOs' marketing activities in four major media markets. Lower costs and better benefits are pitched in the majority of the ads. Image and content analyses suggest that, in general, HMO ads appear to market to healthy seniors and not to the sick or to disabled persons under age sixty-five. Important plan information often appears in fine print. The study raises questions about the impact of marketing on beneficiaries' insurance choices and the challenges facing the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) in establishing and enforcing marketing guidelines.

                      What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Mehrotra, S. Grier, and R. A. Dudley The relationship between health plan advertising and market incentives: evidence of risk-selective behavior. Health Aff., May 1, 2006; 25(3): 759 - 765. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. P. McCarthy, R. B. Burns, Q. Ngo-Metzger, R. B. Davis, and R. S. Phillips Hospice Use Among Medicare Managed Care and Fee-for-Service Patients Dying With Cancer JAMA, May 7, 2003; 289(17): 2238 - 2245. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. U. Himmelstein, S. Woolhandler, I. Hellander, and S. M. Wolfe Quality of Care in Investor-Owned vs Not-for-Profit HMOs JAMA, July 14, 1999; 282(2): 159 - 163. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. P. Kassirer and M. Angell Risk Adjustment or Risk Avoidance? N. Engl. J. Med., December 24, 1998; 339(26): 1925 - 1926. [Full Text]

				L. I. Iezzoni, J. Z. Ayanian, D. W. Bates, and H. R. Burstin Paying More Fairly for Medicare Capitated Care N. Engl. J. Med., December 24, 1998; 339(26): 1933 - 1938. [Full Text]