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Health expenditures continue to grow very rapidly in the U.S. Since 1970, health care spending has grown at an average annual rate of 9.8%, or about 2.5 percentage points faster than the economy as measured by the nominal gross domestic product (GDP). Annual spending on health care increased from $75 billion in 1970 to $2.
Considerable attention has been paid in recent years to the rapid growth of health insurance premiums and its impact on coverage affordability. Premium growth has far outpaced growth in workers earnings, which means that workers have to spend more of their income each year on health care to maintain current coverage levels.
Medicare Drug Benefit Enrollment Update This enrollment update breaks down and explains the statistics related to enrollment under the new Medicare drug benefit and the separate low-income subsidy program that provides additional assistance.
One of the many reasons an individual may be uninsured is that she or he decides an employer’s offer of health insurance is too expensive. Several studies have noted the likelihood that a worker will decline an employer’s offer of health insurance increases with the amount he or she is required to contribute.
Two Kaiser Family Foundation national surveys of doctors and pharmacists examine additional findings on their views and experiences on a wide range of health care issues.
New England Journal of Medicine Article: Voters and Health Care in the 2006 Election A New England Journal of Medicine article finds that health care is not likely to play a major role in the November 2006 Congressional elections but could still be a factor in selected close races.
Premiums and Cost-Sharing Features in Medicare's New Prescription Drug Program, 2006 When Congress created the Medicare drug benefit in 2003, it also sought to generate more private plan options for senior and disabled beneficiaries in Medicare, with increased payments to attract sponsors and to support added benefits attractive to enrollees, especially in rural and other…
Observations on the Initial Implementation of the Medicare Prescription Drug Program: Perspectives of State Medicaid Directors Through a Focus Group Discussion Medicaid directors express the need to continue to focus on the interaction between Medicaid and the Medicare prescription drug benefit and to address the key system and coordination issues that remain, particularly with the…
Embargoed for release until:Friday, December 8, 2006 For further information contact:Craig Palosky, cpalosky@kff.org, (202) 347-5270Larry Levitt, llevitt@kff.org, (650) 854-9400 New Poll Finds Broad Support Among Democrats, Independents, and Republicans for Drug Price Negotiation, Reimportation, and Prioritizing Children for Coverage of the Uninsured...
Chartpack: Seniors' Early Experiences with the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit These charts highlight key data from the April 2006 tracking poll on seniors' early experiences with the new Medicare drug benefit. Chartpack (.
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