The New Medicaid and CHIP Waiver Initiatives
A new report describes past waiver activity, the principles of the new HIFA initiative, and related policy implications.
Prescription Drug Discount Cards: Current Programs and Issues
As policymakers consider a range of approaches to providing prescription drug coverage to the Medicare population in today s tight budgetary environment, one proposal that has been put forth by the Bush Administration is that of a Medicare-endorsed prescription drug discount card program. This report describes the range of existing discount card programs run by both private sponsors and state governments and provides background information on the implications of this approach to assisting Medicare beneficiaries with their prescription drug bills.
Poll Finding
Health News Index January/February 2002
Health News Index January/February, 2002
The January/February 2002 edition of the Kaiser Family Foundation/ Harvard School of Public Health Health News Index includes questions about major health stories covered in the news, including the public s knowledge of the ongoing anthrax investigation and prescription drug discount cards. The Health News Index is designed to help news media and people in the health field gain a better understanding of which health stories Americans are following and what they understand about those issues.
Recent Publications on Medicaid and Prescription Drugs
Recent Publications on Medicaid and Prescription Drugs
The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured continues to focus on the role of prescription drugs in the Medicaid program with particular attention on drug spending trends, state reforms to curb spending, and the impact on access to care. Listed below are the most recent publications on these important issues. Check back frequently for new publications.
- Case Study: Michigan’s Medicaid Prescription Drug Benefit
- Medicaid and Prescription Drugs: Fact Sheet
- Medicaid and the Prescription Drug Benefit: A Policy Brief
- States Strive to Limit Medicaid Expenditures for Prescribed Drugs
- Medicaid: Purchasing Prescription Drugs
- Florida’s Medicaid Prescription Drug Benefit: A Case Study
- Medicaid & Prescription Drugs: Findings from a National Survey and Selected Case Study Highlights
- Outpatient Prescription Drug Benefits Under Medicaid: Detailed Case Studies
- Link to “State Variation in Medicaid Pharmacy Benefit Use Among Dual-Eligible Beneficiaries”
- Link to “Prescription Drug Trends: A Chartbook Update”
- Link to “Prescription Drug Discount Cards: Current Programs and Issues”
Florida’s Medicaid Prescription Drug Benefit: A Case Study
Florida’s Medicaid Prescription Drug Benefit: A Case Study
A new study summarizes and discusses the state s attempt to reform its Medicaid prescription drug benefit program.
Sexual Activity and Substance Use Among Youth
Teens and young adults face many pressures and decisions involving alcohol, drugs, and sexual activity decisions that often occur simultaneously. Almost one quarter of sexually active young people aged 15-24 report having sex without a condom because they were drinking or using drugs at the time. These findings are from a new national survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and released at a conference, Dangerous Liaisons: Substance Abuse and Sexual Behavior, sponsored by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.
- Survey Snapshot
- Toplines/Survey
- Fact Sheet: Substance Use and Sexual Health Among Teens and Young Adults in the U.S.
- Issue Update: Substance Use and Risky Sexual Activity
States Strive to Limit Medicaid Expenditures for Prescribed Drugs
A new report presenting year 2000 trends on prescription drug spending, summarizing states options in designing their benefit, and reviewing several ways states are using their flexibility to curb the rate of growth of their Medicaid drug budgets.
A Medicare Buy-In for the Near Elderly: Design Issues and Potential Effects on Coverage
This report examines a Medicare-based approach to reducing the ranks of the uninsured that would permit early retirees between the ages of 62 and 65 to purchase coverage under Medicare. The paper begins with an overview of the challenges of insuring the near-elderly and explores the potential effects of a Medicare buy-in on coverage of this population. The authors conclude that, unless premiums for such coverage were low or tied to enrollees’ income, this approach would have a relatively small impact on both the number of uninsured near-elderly and retirement decisions.
An Analysis of Reforming Medicare Through a ‘Premium Support’ Program
An Analysis of Reforming Medicare Through a ‘Premium Support’ Program
This report examines one of the leading approaches to reforming the Medicare program, known as premium support. Under this model, the current Medicare program would be replaced by a system of competing public and private health plans, and the federal government would pay a set amount per beneficiary. The authors conclude that, while premium support could potentially improve Medicare’s efficiency and improve quality, traditional Medicare could experience erosion over time, resulting in higher costs and more unstable coverage for seniors.
Rising Unemployment and the Uninsured
A brief policy analysis (revised as of January 2002) examines the relationship between the unemployment rate and increases in the uninsured and finds that for every percentage point increase in the unemployment rate, 1.2 million people will become uninsured.