Health services research
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Health services research · Feb 2004
The costs of decedents in the Medicare program: implications for payments to Medicare + Choice plans.
To discuss and quantify the incentives that Medicare managed care plans have to avoid (through selective enrollment or disenrollment) people who are at risk for very high costs, focusing on Medicare beneficiaries in the last year of life-a group that accounts for more than one-quarter of Medicare's annual expenditures. ⋯ More disaggregated prospective risk adjustment methods and alternative payment systems that compensate plans for delivering care to certain classes of patients should be considered to ensure access to high-quality managed care for all beneficiaries.
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Health services research · Feb 2004
Do drug-free workplace programs prevent occupational injuries? Evidence from Washington State.
To evaluate the effect of a publicly sponsored drug-free workplace program on reducing the risk of occupational injuries. ⋯ The drug-free workplace program we studied was associated with a selective, industry-specific preventive effect. The strongest evidence of an intervention effect was for the construction industry. Estimated net cost savings for this industry were positive though small in magnitude.