Trends in Medical Coverage That Active Workers Receive from Employers: Implications for Reforming the Medicare Benefit Package.

Compares Medicare and group health benefits over the years to identify issues relevant to reforming the current Medicare package. Notes that Medicare benefits tend to be more limited than those offered to active workers but that neither type of coverage does a good job of supporting care management, prevention, or integrated treatment of chronic conditions. Concludes that efforts to modernize Medicare should consider how proposed changes will affect the complexity of the program and kinds of choices beneficiaries are asked to make, since the current overlap of Medicare and supplemental coverage options creates complexity in choices. For a printed copy, contact the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission at (202) 653-7220.