Preventive Service Use and Medicaid Managed Care in New York City

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of managed care enrollment on the use of preventive services among New York City's Medicaid population. STUDY DESIGN: An analysis of survey results from a sample of Medicaid beneficiaries in managed care plans and in traditional Medicaid. METHODS: This study is based on a 1994 survey of 1038 Medicaid beneficiaries enrolled in any of 5 managed care plans and a comparison group of 410 beneficiaries in traditional Medicaid in New York City. The survey data are used to examine the effect of managed care on the self-reported use of Pap smears, mammograms, and infant immunizations. We performed bivariate analysis to compare the use of preventive services between managed care enrollees and beneficiaries in traditional Medicaid. We also used multivariate logistic analysis to explore this comparison, controlling for factors that may confound the relationship. RESULTS: Medicaid beneficiaries in managed care were no more or less likely to receive infant immunizations, Pap smears, or mammograms than those in the traditional Medicaid program. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis suggests that Medicaid managed care and the traditional program performed the same in getting appropriate preventive services to beneficiaries.