Coverage

This infographic provides data on the current status of health and health care for Blacks, including measures of their health coverage, health access and use, and health outcomes.

The Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage provision made access to the full range of contraceptive methods available to millions of women with private insurance at no cost.  Despite broad public support, this provision has been challenged by religious employers, with two cases reaching the Supreme Court. It is unclear how…

On the eve of the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, a new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis finds 25 states either bar abortion coverage in Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace plans or limit it to cases of rape or incest or when the woman’s life is endangered. In an…

Medicare plays an integral role in end-of-life care, an issue that is emotionally-charged and easily politicized.  About three-quarters of the 2.5 million Americans who die each year are ages 65 and older, and covered by Medicare at the time of their death, yet policy issues related to Medicare and end-of-life…

UPDATE: Due to snow in the Washington area, this Kaiser Family Foundation scheduled event in Washington, D.C., is cancelled.  We apologize for the inconvenience and will let you know if we are able to reschedule the event at a later date. The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) major coverage reforms have…

This brief provides an overview of initiatives to connect the justice-involved population to Medicaid coverage and care in the community in three states—Arizona, Connecticut, and Massachusetts—based on interviews with key stakeholders. These states are leading efforts in these areas and provide key lessons about how to coordinate across health care and corrections and the potential of such initiatives to better link individuals to the physical and behavioral services they need. Each of the case study states is connecting individuals to coverage at multiple points within the justice system. The study states also connect individuals to care in the community as they are released from jail or prison. Stakeholders and data indicate that these approaches have increased coverage, facilitated access to care, and contributed to administrative efficiencies and state savings. However, more data and time are needed to examine the effects on health and criminal justice outcomes, including recidivism rates.

The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) major coverage reforms have created new pathways to insurance coverage for millions of Americans, including those with HIV. How have these changes affected coverage and access to care for people with HIV? Who has gained new coverage and who has been left out? On May 4 at 9:30 a.m. ET, the Kaiser Family Foundation held a policy briefing to discuss these questions with a panel of experts.

Revamping traditional Medicare’s benefit design and restricting “first-dollar” supplemental coverage could reduce federal spending, simplify cost sharing, protect against high medical costs, decrease out-of-pocket spending for many beneficiaries, and provide more help to those with low incomes — but would be unlikely to achieve all of these goals simultaneously.

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 effects on out-of-pocket spending by beneficiaries in traditional Medicare, and assesses how each option is expected to affect spending by the federal government, state Medicaid programs, employers, and other payers, assuming full implementation in 2018.

Multiple studies find that the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion has increased coverage, with enrollment exceeding expectations in some states, while producing budget savings for states and reductions in uncompensated care costs for hospitals, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation review of 61 studies and policy reports. The literature review provides…