The Minnesota Senior Health Options program: An early effort at integrating care for the dually eligible

Background. Duplication of funding and resultant inefficiencies have prompt ed active consideration of pooling the funding for persons covered by both Medicare and Medicaid into a single managed care program. This study report s the initial results of the first such program. Methods. A sample of enrollees in Minnesota Senior Health Options (MSHO) an d two sets of controls (within the same catchment area and outside it) as w ell as their families were interviewed to assess their functional status an d satisfaction with their medical care. Respondents included those living i n the community and those living in nursing homes. Results. The MSHO and control samples were generally alike in terms of demo graphics and illness patterns. The differences that were found reflected th ose attributable to geographic location more than program. The groups were also similar with regard to functional status. There were few satisfaction differences, among the community-dwelling samples, but the MSHO nursing res idents and especially their families expressed more satisfaction with sever al aspects of care. Conclusions. Whereas no causal conclusions about outcomes can be drawn from a cross-sectional sample, there is no indication that managed care for the dually eligible population has profound impacts on care. However, the syst em of care provided to nursing home residents is appreciated over tradition al care.