Since 2006, Medicare beneficiaries have had access to prescription drug coverage offered by private plans, either stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) or Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans (MA-PD plans). Today, more than 26 million Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare drug plans, including 17.5 million in stand-alone prescription drug plans and 9 million in Medicare Advantage drug plans.

This report summarizes findings from a series of Medicare Part D 2009 Data Spotlights documenting changes in drug coverage and costs since 2006. It presents key findings related to Medicare drug plan premiums, the coverage gap, benefit design and cost sharing, the specialty tier, formularies, and utilization management, based on data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for all plans participating in Part D. The analysis was conducted jointed by Jack Hoadley of Georgetown University, Elizabeth Hargrave of NORC at the University of Chicago, and Juliette Cubanski and Tricia Neuman of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Issue Brief (.pdf)

Most Medicare Part D prescription drug plans use tiers with different cost-sharing amounts for generic, preferred, and non-preferred drugs, and also include an additional “specialty” tier for very high cost and unique drugs. This 2009 Part D Data Spotlight examines use of the specialty tier, including the numbers and kinds of drugs included on specialty tiers, what beneficiaries pay for those drugs, and trends over time.

The spotlight is one in a series analyzing key aspects of the Medicare Part D drug plans that will be available to beneficiaries in 2009. The analysis was conducted jointed by Jack Hoadley of Georgetown University, Elizabeth Hargrave of NORC at the University of Chicago, and Juliette Cubanski and Tricia Neuman of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Issue Brief (.pdf)

The June Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds remarkable stability in public opinion on health reform as Congressional committees begin to hone in on the details of their health reform bills and debate intensifies. A solid majority of the American people continue to believe that health reform is more important than ever given the country’s economic problems.

A solid majority of the American people continue to believe that health reform is more important than ever given the country’s economic problems; sizeable majorities support key elements of reform currently being debated such as employer mandates, individual mandates, and a public plan option. However, as we have seen in previous polls less than half of the public say they are willing to pay more for health reform, with a similar number supporting changing the tax treatment of employer based health insurance, one of the major revenue raisers being discussed. Overall opinion remains highly moveable, with support for many elements of reform susceptible to arguments pro and con and often moving by as much as 40 percentage points when arguments are tested.

The June Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, the third in a series designed and analyzed by the Foundation’s public opinion survey research team, examines voters’ specific health care issue interests and experiences and perceptions about health care reform.

News Release

Key Findings

Chartpack

Toplines

This Data Spotlight focuses on Part D plan coverage of the ten brand-name drugs that were most commonly prescribed for Medicare beneficiaries in 2006 and lack generic equivalents in 2009. Findings are based on an analysis of data for the 44 unique, national and near-national stand-alone prescription drug plans. The list of the top ten brand-name drugs is based on the number of prescriptions filled in 2006 in all Part D plans. The list includes cholesterol-lowering and other cardiovascular medications; one drug for treating osteoporosis; two proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) used to treat gastrointestinal reflux and ulcers; an inhaled drug that treats asthma, emphysema, and other respiratory disorders; and medications used to treat dementia, depression, and bipolar disorder.

The spotlight is one in a series analyzing key aspects of the Medicare Part D drug plans that will be available to beneficiaries in 2009. The analysis was conducted jointed by Jack Hoadley of Georgetown University, Elizabeth Hargrave of NORC at the University of Chicago, and Juliette Cubanski and Tricia Neuman of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Issue Brief (.pdf)

This document contains the toplines from the June Health Tracking Poll. The survey was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and was conducted June 1 through June 8, 2009, among a nationally representative random sample of 1,205 adults ages 18 and older. Telephone interviews conducted by landline (804) and cell phone (401, including 157 who had no landline telephone) were carried out in English and Spanish. The margin of sampling error for the total sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points. For results based on subgroups, the margin of sampling error is higher.

Topline/Survey

This video provides a snapshot of the Arlington (Va.) Free Clinic where, four times a month, medical personnel provide care and screenings exclusively to women. The video explores the hurdles that uninsured women face in accessing health care and the social issues, including work and family responsibilities, that create challenges for them. It is a companion to the report, “Putting Women’s Health Care Disparities On The Map: Examining Racial and Ethnic Disparities at the State Level.”

This policy brief from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured examines the characteristics and insurance coverage of low-income adults under age 65, a group numbering more than 50 million people.

Members of this group are more likely to be in poor health than other Americans and are the least likely to have health insurance. Nearly a third are from families earning less than twice the poverty level. Fifteen percent live in poverty.

Although Medicaid covers most low-income children, it has limited coverage for their parents and generally does not cover childless adults, leaving uninsured a large share of low-income adults with significant health needs.

Overview (.pdf)

Policy Brief (.pdf)

As the long-standing gap between Americans’ need for long-term care services and the public and private funding available to pay for them grows ever wider, this policy brief from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured examines the fundamentals of private long-term care insurance.

The brief describes the results of a study exploring how consumers buy policies, how much policies cost and how they work, and what regulations exist to protect consumers. It also discusses some key challenges that policymakers face when considering whether to enlarge the role of private long-term care insurance in financing long-term care.

Also available is related testimony, “Filling In the Long-Term Care Gaps,” from Diane Rowland, Executive Vice President of the Foundation and the Executive Director of KCMU, who testified June 3 at a U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on the role of private insurance in long-term care.

Report

Testimony

This policy brief from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured examines the fundamentals of private long-term care insurance. It describes the results of a study exploring how consumers buy policies, how much policies cost and how they work, and what regulations exist to protect consumers. It also discusses some key challenges that policymakers face when considering whether to enlarge the role of private long-term care insurance in financing long-term care.

Policy Brief (.pdf)

This analysis, based on data from the 2007 Health Tracking Household Survey, examines how health coverage and access to care for non-elderly adults vary based on immigrants’ length of time in the U.S. and between immigrants, second generation Americans and third generation and higher Americans. It also identifies the primary factors contributing to lower health coverage rates and greater access barriers among immigrants.

While, overall, immigrants have a high uninsured rate and face greater access barriers relative to U.S.-born residents, the findings suggest that many immigrants eventually gain insurance and improved access to health care as they acquire language and job skills, improve their economic standing and become more familiar with the U.S. health care system. Recent immigrants are most at risk for lacking coverage and facing access problems. Addressing coverage and access barriers for this group will be important to any effort to reduce overall disparities between immigrants and U.S.-born residents.

Executive Summary (.pdf)

Issue Brief (.pdf)