91 - 100 of 163 Results

  • Few People Switch Medicare Advantage Plans Each Year, Raising Questions About Whether Seniors Have the Tools and Information They Need To Compare Plans  

    News Release

    A small share of Medicare Advantage enrollees switch plans each year, but those who do tend to pick plans with lower premiums and out-of-pocket limits than the plans they left behind, according to a new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Eleven percent of enrollees voluntarily switched from one Medicare Advantage plan to another between 2013 and 2014, the analysis finds, while another four percent were forced to change because their Medicare Advantage plan exited…

  • Private Contracts Between Doctors and Medicare Patients: Key Questions and Implications of Proposed Policy Changes

    Issue Brief

    Changes in Medicare’s private contracting laws could have significant implications for beneficiaries, doctors, and the Medicare program. This brief summarizes the three options that physicians and practitioners currently have for charging Medicare patients, explains how private contracting works in Medicare under current law, and reviews current proposals on changes to private contracting in Medicare, as well as their implications for patients, physicians, and the Medicare program.

  • The Next Big Debate in Health Care

    From Drew Altman

    In this Wall Street Journal Think Tank column, Drew Altman discusses why adequacy of health coverage will rise as an issue when the political world moves on from its focus on the Affordable Care Act.

  • Clinton-Sanders Contest Fuels Democratic Support for Expanding Obamacare

    From Drew Altman

    In this column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank, Drew Altman discusses how the debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders about how to get to universal coverage has generated more support among Democrats for expanding the Affordable Care Act (and less support for the law as is).

  • A Look at Rural Hospital Closures and Implications for Access to Care: Three Case Studies

    Issue Brief

    The number of rural hospital closures has increased significantly in recent years. This trend is expected to continue, raising questions about the impact the closures will have on rural communities’ access to health care services. To investigate the factors that contribute to rural hospital closures and the impact those closures have on access to health care in rural communities, the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured and the Urban Institute conducted case studies of…

  • Trends in State Medicaid Programs: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

    Issue Brief

    For 15 years, KCMU and HMA have conducted annual surveys of Medicaid programs across the country. The NAMD has formally collaborated on this project since 2014. This brief provides a look back at the enrollment and spending trends as well as the multitude of policy actions taken by states across key areas: eligibility and application processes; provider rates and taxes; benefits, pharmacy and long-term care since as well as highlighting more recent data on managed…

  • Modifying Medicare’s Benefit Design: What’s the Impact on Beneficiaries and Spending?

    Report

    This report examines an approach to reforming Medicare that has been a focus of Congressional hearings and featured in several broader debt reduction and entitlement reform proposals, and was included in the June 2016 House Republican health plan. The analysis models four different options for modifying Medicare's benefit design, all of which include a single deductible, modified cost-sharing requirements, a new cost-sharing limit, and a prohibition on first-dollar Medigap coverage. The analysis models the expected…

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: January 2016

    Feature

    Despite the ongoing debate between Republican lawmakers and President Obama on the future of the 2010 health care law, the January Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is only one of many issues that may impact voting decisions. While there has been recent focus on improving the value of health care, those with insurance under 65 years old largely say the health care services they receive are at least a good…

  • The ACA and People with HIV: An Update

    Issue Brief

    This report provides a second look at how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is impacting people with HIV two years into these new coverage opportunities, based on focus groups conducted with HIV positive individuals from five states in early 2016, after the third round of open enrollment. Groups were conducted with HIV positive individuals who gained insurance coverage – through either the Marketplaces or Medicaid expansion- in California and New York and with those who…