On September 9, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released a brief examining Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, in light of the incentive payments the national health care reform law offers based on their quality rating.  The brief examines plans by quality and enrollment, and found that high quality plans are concentrated in certain geographical areas, leaving access to quality MA plans nationally inconsistent. 

From the report:

Beginning in 2012, Medicare Advantage plans with the highest quality ratings will be rewarded with quality based payments. Over the past several years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has collected information about the quality and performance of Medicare Advantage plans, and used this information to create a system for rating the relative quality of the Medicare Advantage plans. Ratings are posted on the Medicare.gov website to provide beneficiaries with additional information about the various Medicare Advantage plans offered in their area.

Full Report: Quality Ratings of Medicare Advantage Plans: Key Changes in the Health Reform Law and 2010 Enrollment Data (PDF | 1.06 MB) 

Kaiser Family Foundation. (2010). Quality ratings of Medicare Advantage plans: key changes in the health reform law and 2010 enrollment data. Jacobson, G., Damico, A., Neuman, T., and Huang, J.