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AARP - Formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, provides useful generic consumer
information on managed care. Included in this site are a glossary of
terms, checkpoints for comparing plans, descriptions of differences
between traditional fee-for-service and managed care, and AARP
principles on essential managed care plan features and services.
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Centers For Medicare
& Medicaid Services
- An agency within the Department of Health and Human Services
responsible for Medicare and the new prescription drug program among
other issues.
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Commonwealth
Fund - Offers articles researched and written by experts in fields such
as managed care quality, employer value-based purchasing, insurance
and coverage, and women, children and minority health.
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Department
of Health and Human Services - Web site has materials concerning federal health
care laws. These materials include information on the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the
Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 (MHPA).
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Federal Employees Health
Benefit Plan - Gives current and valuable information to help you choose a health
plan. This site offers extensive information on the health benefit
plans offered to employees, beneficiaries and retirees of the
Federal government. Participants are able to obtain information on
the various plans offered as well as instructions for changing
plans, filing claims, reporting fraud, and patients rights.
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Georgetown
University Health Policy Institute - Consumer guides on getting
and keeping health insurance for each state and the District of
Columbia. These consumer guides summarize your protections and
may not answer all of your questions.
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Healthfinder - Sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office
of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) is a gateway
consumer health information web site that can lead consumers to
selected online publications, databases and web sites.
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Indian Health Service - An agency of the U.S. Public Health Service, provides information
about healthcare services available to the general public and offers
answers to questions and concerns regarding illness and protection.
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Joint
Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations - Evaluates and accredits more than 18,000 health care
organizations in the United States, including hospitals, health care
networks, managed care organizations, and health care organizations
that provide home care, long term care, behavioral health care,
laboratory, and ambulatory care services. Their web site has information about quality, making health care choices, and
performance measurement. Performance reports on health care
facilities can be accessed and downloaded.
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Leap
Frog Group - Comprised of more than 100 public and private organizations that
provide health care benefits, The Leapfrog Group works with medical
experts throughout the U.S. to identify problems and propose
solutions that it believes will improve hospital systems that could
break down and harm patients. Representing approximately 32 million
health care consumers in all 50 states, Leapfrog provides information and solutions for consumers and health care providers.
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Medicare - Provides information about Medicare and the expanded health plan
options with the creation Medicare+Choice. Information is available
in English and Spanish.
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National Committee for Quality
Assurance - The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a
private, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to
improving health care quality everywhere. NCQA is active in
quality oversight and improvement initiatives at all levels of the
health care system.
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National
Women's Health Information Center - This site includes a database and links to more than 1,000
federal agencies, publications and hundreds of government-screened
private sector organizations related to women's health.
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Pacific
Business Group on Health - Provides practical information about how to use
report cards and other indicators to select health plans and
providers. It also has information on health services in
general and health and wellness benefits.
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State Children's
Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) - From the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services. SCHIP is designed to provide
health insurance coverage to "targeted low-income
children" of families that earn too much money to be eligible
for Medicaid, but not enough money to purchase private insurance.
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State
Insurance Departments - Continue to regulate heath insurance issuers (e.g., insurance
companies or HMOs) who sell group insurance to ERISA-covered group
health plans, even under the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Mental Health Parity Act, and the
Newborns’ and Mothers’ Health Protection Act. In addition,
States continue to have responsibilities in individual insurance
market (e.g., selling individual insurance policies). The National
Association of Insurance Commissioners has created access to state
web sites with information on particular state health insurance
laws.
You may also contact your state insurance commissioner for further
information on particular state health insurance laws.
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Veterans Administration - Sponsors a telemedicine healthcare site dedicated towards
improving access, coordination, continuity and outcomes for
healthcare for veterans. Through the use of this electronic
information and support, consumers are able to overcome distance and
time.