Report to Congress on the Evaluation of Medicare Disease Management Programs

Before Medicare Part D, Congress authorized the Medicare disease management demonstration to evaluate whether disease management programs—in conjunction with a comprehensive prescription drug benefit—could improve health outcomes and reduce Medicare expenditures. The demonstration targeted fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries with advanced congestive heart failure, diabetes, or coronary artery disease. This congressionally mandated study found that, based on the population-based random assignment design, none of the three demonstration programs had impacts on key outcomes of Medicare Part A and B expenditures and service use.