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  • Medicare Part D 2008 Data Spotlights

    Issue Brief

    To better understand changes in the private plans providing drug coverage to Medicare beneficiaries under the program's Part D benefit, the Kaiser Family Foundation is issuing a series of data spotlights analyzing key elements of Medicare's private drug plans. Each spotlight will focus on a key aspect of the drug plans that will be available to Medicare beneficiaries in 2008 and examine relevant trends since the Medicare drug benefit took effect in 2006. >>More Recent…

  • Insurance Coverage and Access to HIV Testing and Treatment: Considerations for Individuals at Risk for Infection and for Those with Undiagnosed Infection

    Issue Brief

    Of the estimated 1.2 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, approximately 500,000 are not receiving care for their disease. This includes an estimated 250,000 people who do not know they are HIV positive. This article reviews data on insurance coverage and access to HIV testing and treatment, with a particular focus on individuals who are at risk for HIV infection and those whose infection is undiagnosed. The article, co-authored by Kaiser HIV…

  • Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIPRA):  The revised CHIPRA Bill (H.R. 3963) Compared to the Original Bill (H.R. 976)

    Issue Brief

    Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIPRA): The revised CHIPRA Bill (H.R. 3963) Compared to the Original Bill (H.R. 976) The U.S. House and Senate passed a revised version of Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIPRA) that was intended to address key concerns of opponents of the original bill vetoed by the President. The State Children’s Health Insurance Program is temporarily funded through December 14 at current levels, but requires…

  • Medicare Part D 2008 Data Spotlight: Premiums

    Issue Brief

    This Medicare Part D data spotlight analyzes the premiums charged by the 1,824 stand-alone Medicare Part D plans that will be offered in markets across the country in 2008. The analysis finds premiums charged for Part D plans range widely, from $9.80 per month to $107.50 per month. The average monthly premium would increase from $27.39 in 2007 to $31.99 if enrollees remain in their current plans next year – a 17 percent increase. Nearly…

  • Medicare Part D 2008 Data Spotlight: The Coverage Gap

    Issue Brief

    This Medicare Part D data spotlight examines the coverage gap, or “doughnut hole,” in Medicare drug plans available in 2008. Part D enrollees (other than those receiving low-income subsidies) will reach the coverage gap after they incur $2,510 in total drug costs in 2008. At that point, enrollees are required to pay 100 percent of drug costs until they qualify for catastrophic coverage. The analysis finds that in 2008, more than a quarter of stand-alone…

  • How Much ‘Skin In The Game’ Do Medicare Beneficiaries Have? The Increasing Financial Burden of Health Care Spending, 1997-2003

    Issue Brief

    This study evaluated the changes in Medicare beneficiaries' health care spending between 1997 and 2003, and found beneficiaries spent a growing share of their income on health care. The results showed that median out-of-pocket health spending increased from 11.9% of income in 1997 to 15.5% in 2003, and about four in 10 beneficiaries spent at least one-fifth of their income on health care in 2003. Researchers using data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey found…

  • Why Did Medicaid Spending Decline in 2006?  A Detailed Look at Program Spending and Enrollment, 2000-2006

    Issue Brief

    Why Did Medicaid Spending Decline in 2006? A Detailed Look at Program Spending and Enrollment, 2000-2006 This issue brief finds that Medicaid spending declined for the first time in the program’s 40-plus year history in Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2006, falling by 0.2 percent. The two major factors that underlie the 2006 decline, in addition to a more limited effect of the slowdown in per enrollee spending growth for a few key services, were the…

  • An Overview of Medicaid Enrollees with Diabetes in 2003

    Issue Brief

    Diabetes was the sixth leading cause of death in the US in 2004 and is among the top 10 most expensive medical conditions on the country. Although more than one in seven diabetics in America rely on the Medicaid program for their health coverage, little is known about who they are or what the program spends on their behalf. This brief provides a first look at what Medicaid spends on the nearly 2 million enrollees…

  • The Burden of Out-of-Pocket Health Spending Among Older Versus Younger Adults: Analysis from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1998-2003

    Issue Brief

    UPDATED: An updated version of this analysis is now available online. Recent policy debate has focused on the issue of rising health care costs and whether it might be possible to control costs by requiring consumers to pay a larger share of their health care costs out of pocket. While most of the policy discussion has focused on people of working age, rising health care costs and the burden of out-of-pocket spending also affects seniors,…