The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
The Uninsured and Their Access to Health Care
This fact sheet describes the characteristics of the uninsured population, the difference health insurance makes, and why there is a large uninsured population.
Fact Sheet (.pdf)
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)
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)
This chartpack highlights key results and trends 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. 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 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.
Chartpack (.pdf)
Asset Transfer and Nursing Home Use
This issue brief examines asset transfer data of elderly nursing home residents and finds that for those who qualify for Medicaid, their average asset transfer are small, sufficient to cover about one month of private nursing home care.
Issue Brief (.pdf)