Kaiser Media Fellowships 2012 Massachusetts Site Visits May 25, 2012 Page In May 2012 the Kaiser Media Fellows – journalists with a strong focus on health policy and state health reform – were invited to participate in a week-long program focused on containing health care costs, the impact of almost universal health insurance coverage in Massachusetts, and how the Affordable Care…
Quick Take: Timing Matters: States Waiting for a Supreme Court Decision to Plan an Exchange May 23, 2012 Fact Sheet State-based health insurance exchanges are an important component of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) designed to extend subsidized private health insurance coverage to millions of Americans by 2014. Though projections show exchange enrollment could grow to 20 million individuals nationally, aggressive planning on the part of states…
Quick Take: Geographic Variation in Dual Eligible Enrollment May 23, 2012 Fact Sheet Over 9 million elderly Americans and younger persons with disabilities are jointly enrolled in the Medicaid and Medicare programs. These “dual eligibles” receive coverage for most medical services from Medicare, and they also receive Medicaid assistance for Medicare premiums and cost-sharing and coverage of benefits not offered under Medicare (such…
Kaiser Poll Finds Bipartisan Support For Spending On Global Health May 21, 2012 News Release Public Believes Much Aid Is Lost To Corruption MENLO PARK, Calif. – Two-thirds of Americans say that the U.S. is spending too little or about the right amount on global health with one in five saying spending is too high, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey on the public’s views of global…
Prescription Drug Procurement and the Federal Budget May 8, 2012 Issue Brief This brief commissioned by the Foundation considers areas where Medicare faces limited opportunity for market-based competition and price negotiation to drive down drug spending. These areas include drug purchasing for low-income people enrolled in Part D plans who face minimal cost-sharing requirements, and purchasing certain unique drugs, such as biologicals,…
Medicare Part D Spending Trends: Understanding Key Drivers and the Role of Competition May 8, 2012 Issue Brief This brief commissioned by the Foundation examines factors that contributed to Medicare’s lower-than-expected spending on prescription drugs under the Medicare Part D drug benefit that started in 2006. Since its launch, Medicare has spent about 30 percent less on Part D benefits than the Congressional Budget Office originally projected. Some…
Behavioral Health: Can Primary Care Help Meet the Growing Need? May 4, 2012 Event The health reform law has specific provisions covering mental health and substance use conditions, as well as general provisions to benefit those in need of behavioral health services. While addressing unmet needs, the reform law provisions raise new challenges. Given their budgetary constraints, will states be able to expand capacity…
JAMA Forum: The Future of Private Insurance May 4, 2012 Perspective “The Future of Private Insurance,” Larry Levitt’s May 2012 post for the JAMA Forum, is now online.
Pulling it Together: What We Know about Making the Case to the Public for Global Health May 3, 2012 Perspective Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who is a member of our Board, recently published a column making the case very effectively for continued investments in global health. Today we released our latest national survey on attitudes towards global health, which uncovered important nuances about the argument for foreign aid…
