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  • What Happens When COVID-19 Emergency Declarations End? Implications for Coverage, Costs, and Access

    Issue Brief

    This brief provides an overview of the major health-related COVID-19 federal emergency declarations that have been made since early on in the pandemic, summarizes the flexibilities triggered by each, and identifies the implications for their ending, related to coverage, costs, and payment for COVID-19 testing, treatments, and vaccines; Medicaid coverage and federal match rates; telehealth; access to medical countermeasures through FDA emergency use authorization (EUA); and other Medicaid, Medicare and private health insurance flexibilities.

  • Ground Ambulance Rides and Potential for Surprise Billing

    Issue Brief

    This analysis for the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker finds that half of emergency ground ambulance rides result in an out-of-network charge for people with private health insurance, potentially leaving patients at risk of getting a surprise bill.

  • What Do People with Medicare Think About the Role of Marketing, Shopping for Medicare Options, and Their Coverage?

    Report

    To capture Medicare beneficiaries’ views and experiences in choosing between traditional Medicare and private plans, and among private plans, and the factors that influence these decisions, KFF worked with PerryUndem to conduct focus groups with Medicare beneficiaries in the Fall of 2022, during the annual Medicare open enrollment period. This report summarizes first-hand accounts of participants’ reactions open enrollment advertising and factors that influence their decision-making around Medicare plan choice.

  • Oral Health and Medicare Beneficiaries: Coverage, Out-of-Pocket Spending, and Unmet Need

    Issue Brief

    This brief describes the oral health of Medicare beneficiaries, examines sources of dental coverage for the Medicare population, and examines the utilization of dental services, out-of-pocket spending on dental care, and access problems. This analysis uses data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey Cost and Use file (MCBS), the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the Kaiser Family Foundation Survey of Health Care Among Nonelderly People with…

  • Surprise Medical Bills

    Issue Brief

    This brief explores the problem of "surprise medical bills" -- charges arising when an insured individual inadvertently receives care from an out-of-network provider. It reviews studies on the extent of the issue, including Kaiser Family Foundation polling data, and outlines state and federal policy responses, including rules and proposed rules for Medicare and plans in Affordable Care Act marketplaces.

  • Closing the Medicare Part D Coverage Gap: Trends, Recent Changes, and What’s Ahead

    Issue Brief

    This data note examines the latest data and trends in the Medicare Part D coverage gap, where enrollees must pay a greater share of their prescription drug costs. The note includes data about how many Part D enrollees reached the coverage gap, their average out-of-pocket spending, the value of manufacturer discounts, and recent and proposed changes affecting out-of-pocket costs for Part D enrollees who reach the gap.

  • Betting on Private Insurers

    Perspective

    Just-released estimates of national health spending in 2010 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) show that 45% of our health care spending is financed by the federal and state governments, primarily through the Medicare and Medicaid programs. This share has grown temporarily in recent years because of the economic downturn, as private insurance has declined and Medicaid has grown. It has also increased due to our demographic destiny: the growing cohort of baby…