U.S. government and private sector health care financing models

 

Consider a scenario in which you are asked to compare U.S. government and private sector health care financing models.

Scenario
The hospital board of directors has made a request for you to provide and present a report to them on government and private sector healthcare financing models. As part of the report, the board of directors has asked you to also provide an overview of the types of Medicare policies and provider incentives for pay for performance. As part of the report, you have been tasked with completing two parts of the report.

Your report should include the following information:

A table that compares a government and private sector healthcare model.
A 300-word summary on the types of Medicare policies (e.g. scope of the program, insurance premiums, managed care and competition, and provider payments) and provider incentives for pay for performance.
Instructions
Consider the scenario and complete both parts of this assignment using the Week 8 Assignment Template [DOCX] Download Week 8 Assignment Template [DOCX]for comparison of the government and private sector health care financing models. Complete the template using your own words and write a 300-word summary on the types of Medicare policies and provider incentives for pay for performance below the table. Three creditable sources are required for the assignment

Part 1: Comparing Health Care Models
In Part 1 of this assignment, you will compare the cost, access, reimbursement, and quality of government and private sector models. Choose one government and one private sector model from the list below and begin your research.

Government
Medicare.
Medicaid.
Veteran’s Administration.
Private Sector
Employer Provided Insurance.
HMO.
PPO.
One of the characteristics that you will consider—quality—should be assessed using the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality measures. Optional resources to aid your assessment can be found at:

National Impact Assessment of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Measures ReportsLinks to an external site..
Quality Measures: How They Are Developed, Used & MaintainedLinks to an external site.
HEDIS Measures and Technical ResourcesLinks to an external site..
Part 2: Summary of Medicare Policies and Provider Incentives for Pay for Performance
In Part 2 of this assignment, you will write a 300-word summary on the types of Medicare policies (e.g. scope of the program, insurance premiums, managed care and competition, and provider payments) and provider incentives for pay for performance.

 

Sample Answer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Defining the ScopeI am initiating the research to prepare a comprehensive report for the hospital board comparing healthcare financing models. I've chosen **Medicare** as the government model and a **Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)** as the private sector model, as these represent foundational and highly prevalent structures in the U.S. healthcare system.Comparison FrameworkMy primary focus for the comparative table will be gathering data across four critical dimensions: **Cost** (including premiums and financing), **Access** (network size and utilization management), **Reimbursement** (how providers are paid under each model), and **Quality** (specifically utilizing insights derived from CMS Quality Measures). I am launching focused searches to capture definitions and comparative metrics for Medicare and PPO across these four points.

Medicare Policy Details and P4PTo fulfill the requirement for the 300-word summary, I am simultaneously researching the specific operational policies of Medicare. This includes investigating the **Scope of the program** (Parts A, B, C, D), the design of **premiums and cost-sharing**, the role of **Managed Care and competition** (Medicare Advantage), and the primary **provider payment systems** (like PPS and RBRVS). Furthermore, I am gathering information on crucial **Pay-for-Performance (P4P) incentives** programs run by CMS, such as Hospital Value-Based Purchasing and MIPS, to understand how quality is financially rewarded.Next Steps: Broad Information GatheringMy immediate action involves executing six distinct sets of searches. These searches are designed to collect the foundational information needed for both the comparative table and the detailed Medicare summary efficiently and comprehensively.