Health maintenance organisations drop Medicare beneficiaries

Health maintenance organisations serving nearly half a million older Americans plan to pull out of Medicare, the managed health programme for people aged over 65.

Karen Ignagni, president of the American Association of Health Plans, which represents health maintenance organisations, said, “With health care inflation running at 12% and Medicare reimbursement capped at 2% you have a mathematical formula that does not work.”

Last year the Clinton administration wanted to preserve health maintenance …