DMAA Statement
On Medicare Health Support Report to Congress

Statement attributable to:
Tracey Moorhead
President and Chief Executive Officer, DMAA

"The June report to Congress on Medicare Health Support (MHS) affirms what out members report from the field: high levels of satisfaction with chronic disease management services among beneficiaries and physicians. Seniors understand the value these services add to their care and have embraced the goals of MHS—that much is clear.

"However, the report also underscores the need for more comprehensive data to form a complete picture of these important and evolving pilots. The six months of data examined by RTI International represents far fewer days of actual care—in some cases, less than three months—and much of the early activity in the pilots focused on outreach and assessment activities, rather than intervention services.

"We are extremely pleased that, even with this limited exposure to care management services, participants and their providers already give MHS high marks. Their responses are particularly encouraging in light of significant challenges encountered by Medicare Health Support Organizations (MHSOs), including a divergence in costs between the intervention and comparison groups, which appears to have put MHSOs at a disadvantage from the start. We appreciate the willingness of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to work with the disease management community on these and other critical issues, and to consider actions to level the playing field.

"Medicare Health Support, like any pilot, seeks to test various models of care and assess what works best. With complete data in hand, Medicare can build upon successes and lessons learned to expand the best possible model to the greatest number of beneficiaries. MHS Phase I is an important pilot and represents the kind of innovation necessary in health care today.

"We look forward to the remaining reports on MHS, continued positive feedback from participating beneficiaries and their physicians and, ultimately, successful outcomes in all aspects of the pilots."

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Reporters: Tracey Moorhead is available for telephone interviews. Contact Carl Graziano at (202) 737-5781 or cgraziano@dmaa.org to arrange a call.

About DMAA
The Disease Management Association of America (DMAA), a non-profit membership association, represents all stakeholders in disease management and care coordination. DMAA promotes the role of disease management in raising the quality of care, improving health outcomes and reducing health care costs for individuals with chronic conditions. DMAA has more than 200 corporate and individual members representing all aspects of disease management and care coordination—disease management organizations, health plans, pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers, employers, health information technology innovators, physicians and others.