Medicare Version of the Health Plan Survey

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has conducted the CAHPS Health Plan Survey with Medicare beneficiaries since 1998. The Medicare Survey includes versions for Medicare Advantage plans (including PPOs), Prescription Drug Plans, and the fee-for-service program. CMS provides translations of the Medicare Survey in several languages. No documentation for this survey is available on the AHRQ website.

For scoring and reporting purposes, some survey questions are combined into the following six composite measures:

• Getting Needed Care.
• Getting Appointments and Care Quickly.
• Doctors Who Communicate Well.
• Customer Service.
• Getting Needed Prescription Drugs.
• Care Coordination.

The survey also produces three rating measures:

• Rating of Health Plan.
• Rating of Health Care Quality.
• Rating of Drug Plan (MA-PD and PDP).

The results from the Medicare CAHPS surveys are published in the Medicare & You handbook and in the Medicare Plan Finder.

Learn about the Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan CAHPS Survey.

Learn about the Fee-for-Service CAHPS Survey.