Building on a 2004 CHCF report, this 2007 study compares the experience of beneficiaries enrolled in Medi-Cal managed care and fee-for-service by examining their hospital admission rates for conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and hypertension that could have been treated in an outpatient setting.

The study finds that among Medi-Cal patients receiving CalWORKs benefits between 1994 and 2002, those in managed care were hospitalized a third less often. For disabled beneficiaries, the rate was almost 25% lower. And counties with high rates of preventable hospitalizations in Medi-Cal show a similar pattern for the uninsured.

The authors estimate that had all the beneficiaries studied been in managed care, the average annual hospital savings would have totaled $72 million. They conclude that effective quality improvement strategies should be employed to close the gap and decrease the variation in care provided through Medi-Cal.

The report is available under Document Downloads.