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  • 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…

  • Medicare Part D Spending on the EpiPen Increased More than 1000 Percent from 2007 to 2014

    News Release

    As policymakers in Washington scrutinize the rising cost of the EpiPen auto-injector, a new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that Medicare Part D spending for the potentially life-saving device increased by more than 1000 percent between 2007, the year after the Part D drug benefit took effect, and 2014, the most recent year for which data are available. The higher spending partly results from more Part D enrollees using EpiPens during that period,…

  • New Analysis Finds Out-of-Pocket Prescription Drug Spending Decreasing on Average, But More People Spending in Excess of $1,000 a Year

    News Release

    A new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis finds that average annual out-of-pocket prescription drug spending for workers and family members decreased from a recent high of $167 in 2009 to $144 in 2014. Most of the decline in out-of-pocket spending occurred between 2009 and 2012 and is likely due to generic substitution for popular drugs that lost patent protection. The decline in out-of-pocket-spending continued from 2012 to 2014 with nearly two-thirds of the decline during this…

  • Polling Data Note: Beyond the ACA, the Affordability of Insurance Has Been Deteriorating Since 2015

    News Release

    The debate about the future of the Affordable Care Act and its individual insurance marketplaces may be taking the focus off the affordability challenges facing the broader population, most of whom get their health coverage through employers, Medicare or Medicaid. New survey findings from the Kaiser Family Foundation show that health care has become somewhat less affordable even among those with health insurance. Since 2015, larger shares of people with health insurance say they have…

  • The Effects of Ending the Affordable Care Act’s Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments

    Issue Brief

    This analysis estimates that total federal spending on Affordable Care Act marketplace subsidies would rise $2.3 billion, or 23 percent, in 2018 if payments for the cost-sharing reduction program were eliminated and insurers increased premiums to compensate. Established to reduce out-of-pocket costs for marketplace enrollees with lower incomes, the cost-sharing payments are being challenged in a lawsuit from the U.S. House.

  • 2017 Employer Health Benefits Survey

    Report

    Excerpt: This annual Employer Health Benefits Survey (EHBS) provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, and other relevant information. The 2017 survey finds average family health premiums rose 3 percent, the sixth straight year of relatively modest growth, to reach 18,764 annually on average.

  • New Analysis Finds High Out-of-Pocket Spending Increased for People Covered by Large Employer Plans

    News Release

      A new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis finds about one in four people (24%) covered by large employer plans spent more than $1,000 out-of-pocket on health care in 2015, an increase of seven percentage points from 17 percent in 2005. About 1 in 10 people in such plans (12%) paid more than $2,000 out-of-pocket in 2015, a distribution that mirrors the distribution of overall health spending, according to the new analysis of claims data. Dollar…

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll – October 2017: Experiences of the Non-Group Marketplace Enrollees

    Feature

    The start of the open enrollment period for non-group insurance in 2018 is less than one month away, and the majority of individuals who are targets for enrollment – those who currently purchase their own insurance and those who are uninsured – are unaware of the key dates of the next open enrollment period. This report, focusing on enrollees in the non-group market, compares the experiences of individuals who purchase their own insurance through an…

  • One Million Medicare Part D Enrollees Had Out-of-Pocket Drug Costs above the Catastrophic Threshold in 2015

    News Release

    One million Medicare beneficiaries had out-of-pocket drug spending above the Part D catastrophic threshold in 2015, and the number with such high spending has risen sharply in recent years, according to a new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. While the Part D drug benefit has helped make drugs more affordable for people with Medicare, the lack of a hard cap on annual out-of-pocket spending under Part D exposes enrollees to significant costs, unless they…

  • Paying a Visit to the Doctor: Current Financial Protections for Medicare Patients When Receiving Physician Services

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief explains provisions in current law that shield beneficiaries from unexpected and confusing charges when they see physicians and practitioners—namely, the participating provider program, limitation on balance billing, and conditions on private contracting for doctors who opt out of Medicare or join “concierge” practices. It also analyzes the implications of modifying these provisions for beneficiaries, providers, and the Medicare program.