Rj. Ozminkowski et al., THE VALUE AND USE OF THE QUALIFIED MEDICARE BENEFICIARY PROGRAM - EARLY EVIDENCE FROM TENNESSEE, Health & social work, 22(1), 1997, pp. 12-19
The Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) Program eliminated the out of
-pocket costs of obtaining health care services under the Medicare pro
gram for some low-income beneficiaries who were previously ineligible
for Medicaid. The program is underused, and little is known about its
effects. This article describes the QMB Program and compares program b
eneficiaries with others whose out-of-pocket payments are covered by M
edicaid. Using Medicare claims data covering QMBs in Tennessee, we fou
nd that the program financed a relatively high rate of use of Medicare
services and saved low-income Medicare beneficiaries hundreds of doll
ars per month in out of-pocket costs. Social workers can promote the p
rogram and increase the use of its covered services appropriately, the
reby maximizing its potential benefits to low-income people.