On January 1, almost half a million elderly and disabled Americans will lose their health coverage when several managed care plans no longer cover Medicare patients.

Last year Congress and the Clinton administration backed a program known as Medicare Plus Choice. As a way of containing costs, the program encouraged Medicare patients to enroll in managed-care plans. After heavy marketing, nearly one in six recipients of Medicare are now in managed care. But many of those elderly and disabled will now lose that coverage.

The plans say they can't afford to keep up the coverage without raising premiums, something that the government has rejected.

Three Medicare experts, Karen Ignagni of the American Association of Health Plans, the Executive Director of Medicare Rights Center Diane Archer and a Medicare policy expert from the Kaiser Family Foundation, Tricia Neuman, answer your questions.

How do I know if I will lose medical coverage?

Is the pullout legal?

Why is healthcare so expensive?

Can people just go back to Medicare?

Why don't we raise rates?

Does the medical industry charge too much?

How can HMO's work with the government?