Reports Examine Methods To Reduce Health Care Spending; the Future of Geriatric Medicine; Demographics of Medigap, Medicare Advantage Plans

• "Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey, Part III," Commonwealth Fund: In the third in a series of six bimonthly surveys, Harris Interactive on behalf of the Commonwealth Fund asked 289 health care experts to rate the effectiveness of different methods to lower health care spending. In general, the experts said the most effective way to control costs is to implement a pay-for-performance system to encourage providers to lower costs and improve quality. Meanwhile, experts also generally agreed that use of evidence-based treatment guidelines and disease-management programs would help reduce health care utilization and encouraging partnerships between public and private health insurance programs would be most effective at reducing insurance overhead costs ("Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey, Part III," 5/13).
  
  
• "Caring for Older Americans: The Future of Geriatric Medicine," American Geriatrics Society: By 2030, there will be only one geriatrician for every 7,665 older adults, largely because of the aging of the baby boom population and the relatively small number of medical students choosing to specialize in geriatrics, according to the study, conducted by an AGS task force of about 24 experts. Noting that the number of adults ages 65 and older will double in the next 25 years, the report identifies current obstacles for geriatricians and caregivers and outlines strategies to overcome these obstacles, in part by making recommendations on how to optimize the health of older U.S. residents in the years to come ("Caring for Older Americans: The Future of Geriatric Medicine," 5/12).
  
  
• "Low-Income and Rural Beneficiaries with Medigap Coverage, 2002/Low Income and Minority Beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage Plans, 2002," America's Health Insurance Plans Center for Policy and Research: The two reports, based on data from CMS's 2002 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, examine how a large percentage of low-income Medicare beneficiaries choose to enroll in Medicare Advantage and Medigap insurance plans instead of traditional, fee-for-service Medicare. According to the reports, a large percentage of Medicare Advantage members are low-income or minority beneficiaries and a high percentage of Medigap members live in rural areas and have lower-than-average incomes when compared with all Medicare beneficiaries ("Low-Income and Rural Beneficiaries with Medigap Coverage, 2002/Low Income and Minority Beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage Plans, 2002," 5/12).