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The brief provides a quick explainer of the prescription drug provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law on August 16, 2022 and presents new estimates on how many Medicare beneficiaries could be helped by those provisions.
The Inflation Reduction Act includes several provisions that will lower prescription drug costs for people with Medicare and reduce drug spending by the federal government. This brief summarizes these provisions and discusses the expected effects on people, program spending, and drug prices and innovation.
This brief provides an overview of Medicare spending and financing, based on the most recent historical and projected data from the Medicare Trustees and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The brief highlights trends in Medicare spending and key drivers of spending growth, including higher enrollment, growth in health care costs, and increases in payments to Medicare Advantage plans.
These FAQs review mental health and substance use disorder coverage and cost sharing in Medicare and discuss recent policy changes related to coverage of mental health and substance use disorder treatments.
This brief highlights four key changes related to Medicare enrollment and eligibility that are designed to minimize gaps in coverage ad improve access to care.
This data note examines the financial performance of the three largest for-profit hospital systems in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. All three health systems have had positive operating margins that have exceeded pre-pandemic levels for the majority of the pandemic, including in the third quarter of 2022.
The Medicare open enrollment period that runs from October 15 to December 7 each year is an opportunity for Medicare beneficiaries in traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage to evaluate their current coverage, compare plans, and decide whether to make a change for the coming year. Beneficiaries can compare Medicare Advantage plans, mainly HMOs and PPOs, which provide all Medicare-covered benefits, typically including Part D drug coverage, and may offer other benefits such as vision, dental,…
Nearly all enrollees in Medicare Advantage plans sponsored by the seven largest firms in the market are in a plan that offers some vision, hearing, fitness, and/or dental benefits. Other benefits, including over the counter, remote access technologies, meals, acupuncture and transportation, vary widely across firms, and in-home support services, bathroom safety, Part B rebates, telemonitoring and caregiver support are relatively uncommon
For 2023, the average Medicare beneficiary has access to 43 Medicare Advantage plans and can choose from plans offered by nine firms. Among the majority of Medicare Advantage plans that cover prescription drugs, 66 percent will charge no premium in addition to the monthly Medicare Part B premium. As in previous years, the vast majority of Medicare Advantage plans will offer supplemental benefits, including fitness, dental, vision, and hearing benefits. In addition, virtually all will…
This issue brief provides an overview of the Medicare Part D marketplace in 2023 and key trends over time, focusing primarily on stand-alone Medicare drug plans, including plan availability, premiums, and cost sharing. The brief also describes the prescription drug provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 that affect the Medicare Part D marketplace beginning in 2023
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