Editor's note: Judith Hibbard is in Washington, D.C. She will be available today (June 18) for telephone interviews at (202) 434-2560. On Thursday, Jacquelyn Jewett will be available for interviews at home, (541) 686-1256. Nearly six million of the Medicare beneficiaries currently enrolled in health maintenance organizations (HMOs) don't understand the difference between managed care and traditional Medicare, according to a survey by University of Oregon health policy researchers Judith H. Hibbard and Jacquelyn Jewett. "The differences carry implications for patients in terms of their access to care, the costs they incur, and their choice of a physician as well as their own physician's autonomy in treatment decisions," says Jewett. One-third of the survey respondents enrolled in HMO's in fact knew almost nothing about HMOs, according to Jewett. Hibbard, a UO professor of planning, public policy and management, says the findings raise questions about the Medicare+Choice provision of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which will offer Medicare recipients seven additional medical care options at the end of 1998. "Some of these options are so new and complex, it's very difficult for anyone to know what is best, or even what questions to ask. It's uncharted territory," says Hibbard. The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) released the survey findings Thursday (June 18) at a Washington, D.C., news conference. More than 1,600 Medicare beneficiaries participated in the telephone survey. SOURCES: Judith H. Hibbard, UO professor of planning, public policy and management, (541) 346-3364; e-mail, <jhibbard@oregon.uoregon.edu> and Jacquelyn Jewett, a UO research associate, (541) 346-3635 (work), (541) 686-1256 (home). -30- #T-6133/DAY