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Based on Kaiser Permanente Northwest's (KPNW) experience of offering a standard HMO and a social HMO (SHMO) side by side to Medicare beneficiaries, a strategy to offer the right care at the right time may be a model for managed care organizations serving aging and disabled beneficiaries under Medicare's new special needs plan (SNP) option, according to a study in The American Journal of Managed Care.1 SHMOs can be viewed as precursors to SNPs for seniors with chronic illnesses and disabilities, said Walter N. Leutz, PhD, associate professor in the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA, in the study.