Home › Research › Health systems and care delivery
EYE ON WASHINGTON
&NA;. Oncology Times, 2007-10-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Stark said. “These plans typically charge more than traditional Medicare for a large number of services—everything from home health care to hospital stays and chemotherapy drugs to durable medical equipment. The Medicare Truth in Advertising Act protects beneficiaries by ensuring that they won't face higher out-of-pocket costs in private plans than they do in Medicare.” The bill would prohibit MA plans from charging higher cost sharing than Medicare, and it would continue to permit flat co-payments, which private plans charge for certain benefits in lieu of deductibles or co-insurance, but those charges could never exceed Medicare's charges. Reports of inappropriate and often illegal sales techniques make protecting beneficiaries important, Rep. Marketing agents have lied about MA premiums and physician participation in private plans, he added. Agents have also taken advantage of individuals with serious language barriers or cognitive impairments and have enrolled beneficiaries who thought they were signing up for new Medigap policies. “Medicare Advantage plans, particularly private fee-for-service ones, have new and very confusing arrays of co-payments and deductibles,” said Bill Vaughan, Senior Policy Analyst at Consumers Union. “A number of beneficiaries have joined such plans with little or no understanding that their out-of-pocket expenses may actually be higher compared withto traditional Medicare.”
Key findings
- Stark said. “These plans typically charge more than traditional Medicare for a large number of services—everything from home health care to hospital stays and chemotherapy drugs to durable medical equipment.
- The Medicare Truth in Advertising Act protects beneficiaries by ensuring that they won't face higher out-of-pocket costs in private plans than they do in Medicare.” The bill would prohibit MA plans from charging higher cost sharing than Medicare, and it would continue to permit flat co-payments, which private plans charge for certain benefits in lieu of deductibles or co-insurance, but those charges could never exceed Medicare's charges.
- Reports of inappropriate and often illegal sales techniques make protecting beneficiaries important, Rep.
- Marketing agents have lied about MA premiums and physician participation in private plans, he added.
- Agents have also taken advantage of individuals with serious language barriers or cognitive impairments and have enrolled beneficiaries who thought they were signing up for new Medigap policies. “Medicare Advantage plans, particularly private fee-for-service ones, have new and very confusing arrays of co-payments and deductibles,” said Bill Vaughan, Senior Policy Analyst at Consumers Union. “A number of beneficiaries have joined such plans with little or no understanding that their out-of-pocket expenses may actually be higher compared withto traditional Medicare.”
Why it matters
This article describes a bill to limit cost-sharing in Medicare Advantage plans and reports concerns about misleading sales practices affecting beneficiaries, including those with cognitive impairments. It does not report on treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 24/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record and institution's track record, so those were left out: it earned 22 of the 93 points we could judge it on, which is 24 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Oncology Times) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Oncology Times: journal h-index 24 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2007 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 1 / 7 | Cited 1 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.0 citations a year over 21 year(s) since 2007 |
| Impact for its field and year | 1 / 6 | Cited 0.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 0 institution(s) in 0 countries — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 22 / 93 | Scored on 18 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 22 of the 93 points we could judge it on is 24 out of 100. |
| Total | 24 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. The record's author field reads “&NA;”, which cannot be turned into a citation name, so it is left out. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
EYE ON WASHINGTON. (2007). Oncology Times. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.cot.0000297232.84269.10
Vancouver
EYE ON WASHINGTON. Oncology Times. 2007. doi:10.1097/01.cot.0000297232.84269.10.
BibTeX
@article{study2007-be44bb90,
title = {{EYE ON WASHINGTON}},
journal = {Oncology Times},
year = {2007},
doi = {10.1097/01.cot.0000297232.84269.10},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1097/01.cot.0000297232.84269.10}
}