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This chartpack draws on data and analysis from a variety of sources to profile the Medicare population through the lens of race and ethnicity, describing life expectancy, demographic characteristics, income and savings, health status and chronic conditions, supplemental coverage, selected measures of access to care, and service utilization.
The Medicare open enrollment period allows enrollees to compare plans, stick with their current plan, switch to another plan, or shift to traditional Medicare. This analysis examines the extent to which Medicare Advantage enrollees change plans when given the opportunity. It also analyzes the variation in the rate of plan switching by enrollee and plan characteristics and whether people who voluntarily switch plans tend to move to plans with lower premiums, lower out-of-pocket limits, or…
This brief reviews the role of Medicaid in financing and enabling access to family planning services for low-income women; discusses how states have expanded access to these services with Medicaid; and highlights future programmatic challenges in the context of the health care delivery and coverage reforms resulting from the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Section 1115 waivers authorize research and demonstration projects that, in the view of the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, further the purposes of the Medicaid program. The ACA implemented new requirements for these waivers, including that states must have a publicly available, approved evaluation strategy. This brief examines some of the major research questions and hypotheses relevant to the federal and state evaluations of Medicaid expansion Section 1115 waivers and explores key challenges that…
This issue brief describes the Medicaid non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) benefit, how states administer it, and the reasons that beneficiaries frequently use NEMT. It also explores current policy issues related to NEMT in the context of alternative Medicaid expansion waivers.
This issue brief provides an overview of the 2017 Medicare Part D stand-alone prescription drug plan marketplace, based on analysis of data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The brief focuses on data for 2017 and changes over time in plan availability, premiums, benefit design, cost sharing, and low-income subsidy plan availability.
This brief highlights voices from adult focus group participants with low and moderate incomes who gained Medicaid or Marketplace coverage following implementation of the ACA. It focuses on work, including work status, the new labor market, job benefits, and the role of ACA coverage for those with non-traditional jobs.
Medicare is testing new ways to pay for medical services, emphasizing value rather than volume, and evidence is beginning to build about successes and challenges. On Monday, April 11, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and the Alliance for Health Reform will host a briefing to examine what we know so far about the basic models, savings, quality, the impact on patients and the prospects for replication. Moderated by KFF’s Tricia Neuman and the Alliance’s Marilyn Serafini, Monday's discussion will…
This issue brief draws on features of the various existing Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) programs to identify key policy questions raised by initiatives to streamline Medicaid HCBS, ameliorate institutional bias, and improve administrative simplification.
California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, is the largest state Medicaid program in the nation, insuring almost one-third of Californians. For several decades, Medi-Cal has been transitioning from a fee-for-service (FFS) system to risk-based managed care, and more than three-quarters of all Medi-Cal beneficiaries, including low-income children, adults, seniors, and people with disabilities, are now enrolled in managed care plans. As other state Medicaid programs increase their reliance on risk-based managed care, a review of California’s transition…
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