Publications

Online Publications

  • Noridian Healthcare Solutions,. (2023). Private-Pay (Opt-Out) Medical Services Contract. (10/2023) (link)
  • Butler, M. D. (2023, February). The $74,973 question about Medicare. The Senior Scene. http://www.seniorscene.org/2023/02/22/the-74973-question-about-medicare/ (02/2023) (link)
  • Butler, M. D. (2022, December). Opt-out providers and the $74,973 question. Montana Senior News. https://www.montanaseniornews.com/opt-out-providers (12/2022) (link)
  • Butler, M. D. (2022, December). Opt-out providers and the $74,973 question. Idaho Senior News. https://www.idahoseniorindependent.com/opt-out-providers (12/2022) (link)
  • Butler, M. D. (2022, November). The $74,973 question. Senior Reporter. https://www.seniorreporterofoc.com/issues/senior-reporter-stwain-nov-2022.pdf (11/2022) (link)

Scholarly Journals--Published

  • Butler, M. D. (2019). The $74,973 question: Are Medicare beneficiaries informed users of private medical care contracts? Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 62(1) 4-15. Health-care providers are allowed to opt-out of Medicare, privately contract with beneficiaries, and require that beneficiaries pay the full cost of services. Responses from a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries reveal that they lack the knowledge necessary to make informed decisions regarding such contracts. For example, only 4.6% of participants knew the correct answer to a real-life $74,973 question, leaving a full 95.4% vulnerable to paying a large bill, even a $74,973 bill, they should not pay. In addition to advocating that Medicare effectively monitor private medical care contracts, social workers should educate beneficiaries and/or their caregivers on the implications of entering into such contracts or refer them to their State Health Insurance Assistance Program or Senior Medicare Patrol program for expert guidance. (01/2019) (link)
  • Butler, M. D., & Yaffe, J. (2006).  Clip art or no clip art: A lesson from cognitive science for social work educators.  Journal of Technology in Human Services, 24(2/3) 119-134. The effect of electronic slides on student learning in theclassroom and the impact of adding clip art to these slides were evalu-ated. One hundred forty-two college students were randomly assignedto one of three groups: a lecture without slide presentations (control), alecture that used slides containing only text, or a lecture that used slidescontaining both text and clip-art pictures. Student learning was mea-sured using questions on a scheduled 2-day postinstruction quiz andnew questions on a final examination. Knowledge retention was notdifferent for the three groups on the postinstruction quiz, but was lowerfor both experimental groups at the time of the final examination. Edu-cators are cautioned to evaluate empirically the use of educational in-novations. (09/2006) (link)