With Medicare and Medicaid Getting High Marks from the Public and Beneficiaries, Majorities Favor Status Quo over Major Structural Changes Such As Premium Supports or Block Grants July 17, 2015 News Release Among Medicare Changes, Strongest and Broadest Support Is for Negotiating Drug Prices People With Medicare, Medicaid and Employer Plans Give Their Coverage Similar Ratings, But Some Report Affordability and Physician Access Problems Fifty years after President Lyndon Johnson signed the law creating the Medicare and Medicaid programs, a new Kaiser…
Takeaways From Alaska’s Medicaid Expansion July 16, 2015 News Release In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman discusses the implications of the governor of Alaska’s decision to move ahead unilaterally with Medicaid expansion. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available.
Kaiser/UNAIDS Study Finds Slight Increase In Donor Government Funding for AIDS In 2014 July 14, 2015 News Release Increase Mainly Due to U.K.; However, Funding from Half of Fourteen Donor Governments Declined As world leaders meet to discuss global financing for development, a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) finds that although there was a slight increase in…
Updated Infographic Explains New Federal Regulations on Contraceptive Coverage July 10, 2015 News Release A newly-updated infographic from the Kaiser Family Foundation explains the final regulations on employer-based coverage of birth control released today by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. How Does Where You Work Affect Your Contraceptive Coverage? provides a clear explanation of coverage requirements under the new regulations for employers with…
New KFF Resources Provide the Latest Information on Public and Private Coverage of Contraceptives July 9, 2015 News Release Public programs and private health insurance now pay for the vast majority of contraceptive services and supplies for women. However, complex and shifting regulations shaped by state and federal policy, legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage provision, and other factors affect the scope of coverage. New resources…
What a Break in the Obamacare Battles Could Bring July 8, 2015 News Release Following the Supreme Court’s King v. Burwell decision, the Affordable Care Act could use a break from the intense political heat, though it may not get a long one as the 2016 election season heats up and presidential candidates play to their bases on health care, writes Drew Altman in…
Poll Finds 62% of Americans Approve of the Supreme Court’s Decision to Continue Allowing ACA Health Insurance Subsidies in All States, While 32% Disapprove July 1, 2015 News Release Public’s View of the Health Care Law Remains Nearly Evenly Divided Immediately Following King v. Burwell Ruling Nearly Eight in 10 Americans Expect More Major Battles about the ACA in the Future Just over six in 10 Americans (62%) say they approve of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week…
Amid Merger Talk, a Look at Health Insurers’ Medicare Business July 1, 2015 News Release With recent news about possible health insurance company mergers, Drew Altman looks beyond the impact on Wall Street to how mergers could affect Medicare beneficiaries in his latest column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available.
Medicare Advantage Enrollment Continues to Climb, but Financial Protections for Enrollees Are Eroding June 30, 2015 News Release Enrollment in Medicare Advantage continues to climb steadily as spending reductions enacted in the Affordable Care Act reduce historical overpayments to the private plans, according to a new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. But limits on out-of-pocket spending for Medicare-covered services are rising, providing less protection for enrollees with…
After King v. Burwell Ruling, Health Law Issues Involve Implementation June 25, 2015 News Release After today’s Supreme Court ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act’s federal subsidies, Drew Altman’s latest column in The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank explores what the decision means and what’s next for the health law. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available.