MARKETING HMOS TO MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES

Medicare health maintenance organizations (HMOs) market extensively to attract beneficiaries. To assess the dynamics of this marketing, this paper examines newspaper and television ads and materials from market ing seminars that are illustrative of Medicare HMOs' marketing activit ies in four major media markets. Lower costs and better benefits are p itched in the majority of the ads. Image and content analyses suggest that, in general, HMO ads appear to market to healthy seniors and not to the sick or to disabled persons under age sixty-five. Important pla n information often appears in fine print. The study raises questions about the impact of marketing on beneficiaries' insurance choices and the challenges facing the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) in establishing and enforcing marketing guidelines.