Medicare is poised to implement its first-ever outpatient prescription drug benefit along with a major restructuring of the role played by private health plans. These changes raise numerous concerns about their impact on beneficiaries, particularly the most vulnerable—the frail, the sick, and the poor. Medicare officials, moreover, are considering ways to encourage quality improvement, increase provider efficiency, and improve care coordination. The Fund's Program on Medicare's Future provides independent analysis of these and other changes, identifies issues and directions that should be considered, and develops policy options for improving access to care. This grant will provide strategic direction for the program, develop new projects, coordinate ongoing work, and direct efforts to disseminate findings of work it supports to policymakers and the public. The program director also will participate in the critical review of Medicare-related reports submitted for Fund publication, prepare issue briefs and other materials, represent the Fund in public forums, and contribute to the activities of the new Commission on a High Performance Health System.