Table 1.
Characteristics of Enrollees in Two Medicare Managed Care Plans
| Medicare | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans A and B | |||
| Mean (SD)/Percentage (n=4,613) | HMO enrollees Mean/Percentage | FFS Mean/Percentage | |
| Income | |||
| Percent living below the poverty threshold* | 10.6 | N/R | N/R |
| Percent with less than $10,000 annual income | 20.3 | 22.3† | 32.9† |
| Assets | |||
| Mean (SD) total household assets, excluding housing | $61,457 ($176,332) | N/R | N/R |
| Percent who do not own a home | 37.7 | N/R | N/R |
| Education | |||
| Percent without a high school degree | 38.2 | 32.0† | 35.0† |
| Health | |||
| Mean score (SD) on SF-36 Physical Health 10-item subscale | 68.4 (30.1) | N/R | N/R |
| Mean score (SD) on SF-12 Mental Health 6-item summary scale | 54.4 (9.6) | N/R | N/R |
| Mean number of symptoms experienced in past 4 weeks | 1.6 (2.0) | N/R | N/R |
| Percent who have diabetes | 17.5 | 17.2† | 17.3† |
| Percent with a history of fractured or broken hip | 3.4 | N/R | N/R |
| Age | |||
| Mean age, in years | 74.7 (7.1) | N/R | N/R |
| Percent who are 75 to 84 years of age | 37.4 | 34.1 | 36.4 |
| Percent who are 80 to 84 years of age | 14.1 | N/R | N/R |
| Percent 85 and older | 8.4 | 9.3 | 14.0 |
| Sex | |||
| Percent female | 55.8 | 56.8 | 58.6 |
| Race | |||
| Percent African American | 7.1 | 9.0 | 7.4 |
| Family Structure | |||
| Percent living with a spouse or partner | 43.1 | 52.0† | 48.7† |
| Percent who have at least one living adult son | 73.1 | N/R | N/R |
| Percent who have at least one living adult daughter | 74.3 | N/R | N/R |
| Health Insurance History | |||
| Percent who lacked health insurance most or all of the time between age 18 and 64 | 15.7 | N/R | N/R |
| Percent who have belonged to an HMO in the past | 25.6 | N/R | N/R |
| Design Variables | |||
| Mean months (SD) of enrollment after interview months | 11.0 (2.5) | N/A | N/A |
| Percent in Plan A (Midwest) | 31.4 | N/A | N/A |
Source: Data on nationwide fee-for-service (FFS) and HMO beneficiary characteristics are from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) analysis of the 1999 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), available at http://cms.hhs.gov/mcbs/CMSsrc/1999/sec6.pdf
All Plan A and Plan B numbers are weighted. N/R=not reported. N/A=not applicable.
*
$8,258 for one-family-unit households and $10,408 for two-family-unit households
†
Includes disabled nonelderly Medicare beneficiaries.