Evaluation of Selected Aspects of the National Medicare Education Program: Final Design Report

This report provides information on several proposed design components fo ran evaluation of the National Medicare Education Program, a program sponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to educate and inform beneficiaries about the Medicare program and their choices for coverage. In the report, researchers from Research Traingle International review and summarize previous NMEP evaluation efforts, identify gaps in the reasearch, discuss measurement issues, and present four different study design options, along with advantages and disadvantges of each. The four design options include analysis of Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data; a prospective cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries; case studies of employers, pharmacists, and State Health Insurance Assistance Programs; and a cost-effectiveness analysis.