Evaluating Iowa Medicaid Managed Care Plans: the Consumer Perspective. Results from the 2002 Survey of Iowa Medicaid Managed Care Enrollees. Final Report to the Iowa Department of Human Services

This report presents the results of a study of how Iowa Medicaid managed care enrollees rated their health plans in which they were enrolled during 2000. It was conducted at the request of the Iowa Department of Human Services as part of their continuing quality assurance activities with health plans participating in Medicaid. This study began as part of a demonstration project of the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Study (CAHPS) that was being conducted in Iowa. CAHPS is a national effort to develop a method to provide consumers and purchasers with information about the quality of health plans. CAHPS is sponsored by the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality. The three primary developers of the CAHPS survey and report are Harvard University, RAND and the Research Triangle Institute. The surveys and aspects of the consumer report used in this project were modified by researchers at the University of Iowa Public Policy Center in collaboration with the Iowa Department of Human Services and researchers at RAND who are part of the CAHPS team. The core CAHPS survey instrument was modified to include additional questions about access to care, dental care and where respondents received information if they had questions about their health plan. Researchers at The University of Iowa Public Policy Center conducted this study with funding provided by the Iowa Department of Human Services and the US Department of Health and Human Services Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Researchers from RAND, who are members of the CAHPS development team, also collaborated and provided technical assistance with this project. Information and conclusions presented in this report are the responsibility of the authors and do not represent the views of the Iowa Department of Human Services, The CMS, the health plans or the University of Iowa.