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  • How do Premiums and Cost Sharing Affect Low-Income People in Medicaid?

    News Release

    A new issue brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation reviews what the research shows about the effects of premiums and cost sharing on low-income populations in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), drawing upon 65 peer-reviewed studies and government and research and policy organization reports and studies published between 2000 and March 2017. The review comes at a time when some state and federal policymakers have proposed allowing state Medicaid programs to charge…

  • Medicare Prescription Drug Plans in 2009 and Key Changes Since 2006: Summary of Findings

    Issue Brief

    Since 2006, Medicare beneficiaries have had access to prescription drug coverage offered by private plans, either stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) or Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans (MA-PD plans). Today, more than 26 million Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare drug plans, including 17.5 million in stand-alone prescription drug plans and 9 million in Medicare Advantage drug plans. This report summarizes findings from a series of Medicare Part D 2009 Data Spotlights documenting changes in…

  • Key Issues in Understanding the Economic and Health Security of Current and Future Generations of Seniors

    Issue Brief

    As part of broad deficit-reduction plans, policymakers are considering reforms to the nation's three major entitlement programs - Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security - that could significantly affect the economic security of seniors in their retirement years. This brief examines the role of these programs in ensuring seniors' financial security as well as the challenges facing current and future generations when it comes to economic and health security. Drawing from current research and data, the…

  • Medicare Cost-Sharing: Implications for Beneficiaries

    Event Date:
    Event

    Tricia Neuman, Vice President and Director of the Medicare Policy Project, testified on behalf of herself and Thomas Rice, Ph.D., of UCLA's School of Public Health, before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health on cost-sharing requirements under Medicare and supplemental Medigap policies. The statement reviews Medicare beneficiaries' current cost-sharing responsibilities, the evidence on the impact of out-of-pocket costs on health-care utilization, and the implications for proposals that would modify Medicare's cost-sharing structure.

  • Lower-Income People with Employer Coverage are More Likely to Report Negative Outcomes Due to Insurance Problems Than Their Higher-Income Peers

    News Release

    Lower-income adults with employer coverage are more likely than their higher-income peers to report negative outcomes due to problems using their insurance, a new KFF analysis shows. Drawing on data from the KFF Survey of Consumer Experiences with Health Insurance, the analysis shows that similar shares of lower- and higher-income adults with employer coverage report having common problems with their insurance such as denied claims or prior authorization issues. At the same time, those with lower incomes…

  • Copay Adjustment Programs: What Are They and What Do They Mean for Consumers?

    Issue Brief

    Drug makers sometimes offer copay coupons to lower consumers’ out-of-pocket costs for their brand-name prescriptions, though how private health plans treat those coupons can substantially limit their value to consumers. This issue brief provides an overview of such copay adjustment programs, stakeholder arguments for and against their use, their prevalence, and federal and state efforts to address them.

  • Adding an Out-of-Pocket Spending Maximum to Medicare: Implementation Issues and Challenges

    Issue Brief

    In an effort to simplify Medicare’s cost-sharing requirements, provide beneficiaries with catastrophic protection, and achieve program savings, some have proposed to restructure Medicare’s benefit design. Several recent proposals would create a unified deductible for Medicare Parts A and B, simplify cost-sharing requirements above the deductible, and add an annual limit on beneficiary out-of-pocket spending—a benefit feature typical of larger employer plans, but lacking in traditional Medicare. This issue brief describes the options for adding an…