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These toplines provide the complete survey questions and responses to the September/October 2005 Kaiser Health Poll Report, a bimonthly report designed to provide key tracking information on public opinion about health care topics to journalists, policymakers and the general public. It includes a series of questions on how the public views the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States.
Survey Toplines (.pdf)
This chartpack highlights demographic data about African Americans, Hispanics and whites with Medicare to highlight potential implications for outreach efforts under the new Medicare drug benefit.
The information is being used in a series of November 2005 briefings at the start of the first open-enrollment period for the new benefit.
Chartpack (.pdf)
State Financing of the Medicare Drug Benefit: New Data on the “Clawback”
Beginning in 2006, states will be obligated to finance part of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit via a monthly “clawback” payment to the federal government. This issue update analyzes the latest data and provides an overview of the state financing of the Medicare drug benefit.
Issue Brief (.pdf)
With short and long-term policy changes to the Medicaid program being discussed, its role in providing long-term care is receiving closer examination. Medicaid is the single largest source of financing for long-term care, accounting for nearly half of all the nation’s spending for long-term care services, and demographic trends are likely to place additional pressure on Medicaid. New attention is being focused on who relies on Medicaid for help with nursing home bills and how they qualify for the program. Additionally states have been shifting resources to more home and community-based care settings in recent years in an attempt to provide alternatives to institutional care.
The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has several new and recent reports highlighting the latest trends in Medicaid’s role for people with long-term care needs.
Long-Term Care: Understanding Medicaid’s Role for the Elderly and Disabled
Asset Transfer and Nursing Home Use
The Distribution of Assets in the Elderly Population Living in the Community
Strategies to Keep Consumers Needing Long-Term Care in the Community and Out of Nursing Facilities
Medicaid 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Service Programs: Data Update
These toplines provide the complete results from a comprehensive survey of seniors on their understanding of and views toward the Medicare drug benefit. The survey of 802 seniors was conducted in late October 2005, prior to the start of the benefit’s open enrollment period, which runs from Nov. 15, 2005 to May 15, 2006.
The survey was conducted and analyzed by researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. It is part of an ongoing effort to track seniors’ views on the Medicare prescription drug benefit, which has included three earlier comprehensive surveys about Medicare and five tracking polls which included questions about the benefit.
Toplines (.pdf)
In a few short weeks, Medicare will undergo big changes that will have a major impact on nearly 4 million African American seniors and younger people with permanent disabilities who rely on Medicare for their health coverage. More than four in ten African Americans with Medicare lack coverage for their prescription drugs for at least part of the year. Many others will need to make decisions about their existing coverage and the new Medicare benefit.
Starting Jan. 1, Medicare will cover outpatient prescription drugs, but many seniors don’t even understand the basics about what the new benefit offers or how it works. Helping African Americans who rely on Medicare to understand how this program will work is critical to ensuring they make good decisions about this coverage.
The materials on this page provide a demographic overview of African Americans with Medicare. They were used for a conference call briefing on Monday, Nov. 14, at 1 p.m. Eastern time co-sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the National Caucus and Center on Black Aged.
Nov. 14 Presentation Slides — African Americans and Medicare (.pdf)
An estimated 200,000 Medicare beneficiaries were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Medicare played a key role in meeting the health care needs of the elderly and disabled beneficiaries who were displaced by the hurricane. Many of these beneficiaries face new challenges as a direct result of the hurricane. This issue brief identifies issues and challenges for individuals on Medicare affected by the hurricane and offers options for addressing these problems during the transition period. This issue brief focuses on subgroups of the Medicare population, including beneficiaries in traditional Medicare, those enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, and dual eligibles and nursing home residents. It looks at potential transition issues affecting beneficiaries as the new drug benefit is implemented. It also identifies issues to be considered in future disaster planning efforts.
Issue Brief (.pdf)
Long-Term Care: Understanding Medicaid’s Role for the Elderly and Disabled
This updated report provides a review of how Medicaid works for people with long-term care needs and describes the fiscal challenges that states currently face and that Medicaid may face in the future as the population ages.
Report (.pdf)
Executive Summary (.pdf)
In a few short weeks, Medicare will undergo big changes that will have a major impact on more than 3 million Hispanic seniors and younger people with permanent disabilities who rely on Medicare for their health coverage. More than one in three Hispanics with Medicare lack coverage for their prescription drugs for at least part of the year. Many others will need to make decisions about their existing coverage and the new Medicare benefit.
Starting Jan. 1, Medicare will cover outpatient prescription drugs, but many seniors don’t even understand the basics about what the new benefit offers or how it works. Helping Hispanics who rely on Medicare to understand how this program will work is critical to ensuring they make good decisions about this coverage.
The materials on this page provide a demographic overview of Hispanics with Medicare. They will be used for a conference call briefing on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 1 p.m. Eastern time co-sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the National Alliance for Hispanic Health.
Nov. 16 Presentation Slides — Hispanics and Medicare (.pdf)
This comprehensive survey of seniors about the Medicare drug benefit finds that many seniors remain uncertain about how the new benefit will affect them and unsure about whether they will enroll. Seniors who say they understand the benefit well are more likely to report favorable views than those who do not.
The survey examines in depth what seniors know and understand about the new benefit and what they think about its potential helpfulness. It was conducted and analyzed by researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. Fieldwork was done by telephone by ICR/International Communications Research between October 13 and October 31, 2005, among a nationally representative sample of 802 respondents 65 years of age and older.
This survey is part of an ongoing effort to track seniors’ views on the Medicare prescription drug benefit, which has included three earlier comprehensive surveys about Medicare and five tracking polls which included questions about the benefit.
The survey was released at a November 10, 2005 briefing:
Agenda (.pdf)
Speaker Biographies (.pdf)