Multiple Cohorts Analysis of the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey, 1998-2002

National surveys such as the MedicareHealth Outcomes Survey (HOS) providean opportunity to examine changes in thephysical and mental health of Medicarebeneficiaries over time. The current studyis based on results from the HOS. This sur-vey, sponsored by CMS, is the first healthoutcomes measure for the Medicare popu-lation in managed care settings. Beginningin 1998 and continuing annually, a newbaseline cohort is created from a randomlyselected sample of Medicare Advantage(MA) plans, members from each applica-ble Medicare contract market area in theUnited States. Beneficiaries from the base-line sample are surveyed again 2 yearslater (the followup data collection).