Medicare: Comparison of Candidate’s Proposals

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Bush-Cheney¹

Kerry-Edwards²

General approach

Supports greater role for private plans under Medicare to give seniors greater choice of health plans.

Supports giving seniors a choice of a health plan that’s right for them. Opposes privatization of Medicare that causes benefit cutbacks. Opposes forcing seniors into HMOs to get drug benefits or affordable premiums.

Market competition

Supports competition between Medicare private plans and the traditional FFS program. Supported increasing payments to private plans that contract with Medicare.Opposes competition between private health plans and the traditional Medicare FFS program. Opposes higher payments to private plans that contract with Medicare.

Part B premiums

Supported increasing the Part B premium for beneficiaries with higher incomes.No position announced.

Medicare Drug Benefit

Opposes direct government negotiation of prices; supports relying on competition between private plans to control drug costs.Supports direct government negotiation of drug prices.Note: The Bush-Cheney GOP Platform does not include any new Medicare initiatives. The positions in this table are based on the President’s policies leading to the enactment of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003.

¹ “Offering Health Care & Prescription Drug Choices,” http://www.georgewbush.com; “The Budget for Fiscal Year 2005,” OMB, February, 2004; “President Bush Plans More Choices & Better Benefits for Medicare,” www.GOP.com.

² “A Plan to Protect & Strengthen Medicare & Social Security,” http://www.InsideHealthPolicy.com, August 5, 2004; “The 2004 Democratic National Platform Committee Report,” DNC, July, 2004; “A Plan for Stronger, Healthier Seniors,” http://www.johnkerry.com, August, 2004.

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Medicaid and Other Public Programs for Low-Income Childless Adults: An Overview of Coverage in Eight States

Background State Reports

District of Columbia (.pdf)

Maine (.pdf)

Massachusetts (.pdf)

Minnesota (.pdf)

New York (.pdf)

Oregon (.pdf)

Pennsylvania (.pdf)

Washington (.pdf)

Medicaid and Other Public Programs for Low-Income Childless Adults: An Overview of Coverage in Eight States

This report profiles childless adult programs in eight state-level jurisdictions: the District of Columbia, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington.

Report (.pdf)

Background State Reports prepared by the Economic and Social Research Institute

Exhibit 12.1

Exhibit 12.6

Exhibit 12.2

Exhibit 12.7

Exhibit 12.3

Exhibit 12.8

Exhibit 12.4

Exhibit 12.9

Exhibit 12.5

Exhibit 12.1

Exhibit 12.6

Exhibit 12.2

Exhibit 12.7

Exhibit 12.3

Exhibit 12.8

Exhibit 12.4

Exhibit 12.9

Exhibit 12.5

¹² Kaiser Family Foundation, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Health Insurance Coverage in America, 2002 Data Update, December 2003.

¹³ These answers are not exclusive: 11% of firms that shopped switched both carrier and type of health plan offered. 

Exhibit 11.1

Exhibit 11.4

Exhibit 11.2

Exhibit 11.5

Exhibit 11.3

¹¹ Twenty-eight percent of Medicare beneficiaries receive prescription drug coverage from an employer, a far higher number than receive coverage through a Medicare HMO (15%), Medigap (7%) or Medicaid (10%). Laschober et. al., Health Affairs, February 2002.

Exhibit 10.1

Exhibit 10.5

Exhibit 10.2

Exhibit 10.6

Exhibit 10.3

Exhibit 10.7

Exhibit 10.4

¹⁰ A self-funded plan is one in which the employer assumes direct responsibility for the costs of enrollees’ medical claims. Employers sponsoring self-funded plans typically contract with a third-party administrator or insurer to provide administrative services for the self-funded plan.

Exhibit 9.1

Exhibit 9.5

Exhibit 9.2

Exhibit 9.6

Exhibit 9.3

Exhibit 9.7

Exhibit 9.4

Exhibit 9.8

⁹ There are fewer observations for estimating the average copayment for four-tier drugs compared to other drug types.

Exhibit 8.1

Exhibit 8.4

Exhibit 8.2

Exhibit 8.5

Exhibit 8.3