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The Alliance for Health Reform and the Kaiser Family Foundation present a briefing to discuss the basics of Medicare, its role in the health care system, and how the program has evolved over time. Speakers address questions on how the program is administered, how much it costs and how it is financed. A short video produced by the Kaiser Family Foundation, "The History of Medicare: A Timeline," will be shown at the event. For more…
Premium support is a general term used to describe an approach to reform Medicare that aims to reduce the growth in Medicare spending. These FAQs raise and discuss basic questions about the possible effects of a premium support system for Medicare beneficiaries, the federal budget, health care providers, and private health plans.
This January 2014 briefing, co-sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Alliance for Health Reform, examines what is known about the health and economic security of Medicare beneficiaries today, as well as how current and future beneficiaries may be affected by the leading proposals that aim to achieve Medicare savings.
The Alliance for Health Reform and the Kaiser Family Foundation present a briefing to discuss the complexities of raising the age for Medicare eligibility. Speakers address questions on how this proposed change may affect beneficiaries, employers, and the workforce, as well as the cost and coverage implications for those approaching the current age of eligibility or enrolled in Medicare today. For more information, please visit the Alliance's event page. Full Video Speakers for this session:…
This brief presents the most current data available on the Medicare supplemental insurance (Medigap) market, including enrollment and premiums by state and plan type, analyzes how many beneficiaries have first dollar coverage (particularly Plans C and F), and describes recent Medigap proposals that have emerged as part of efforts to reduce Medicare spending and the national debt.
Current law allows states to use revenue from provider taxes to help fund the state share of spending on Medicaid, a program that is jointly financed by the states and the federal government. Almost all states have at least one provider tax in place. This issue brief reviews the use of provider taxes by states as a mechanism for financing the state share of Medicaid spending. It also explores the implications of recent proposed changes…
Several major deficit-reduction and entitlement reform proposals include raising Medicare's age of eligibility from 65 to 67 as a way of improving Medicare's solvency. This Kaiser Family Foundation report estimates the expected effects of such a change on the federal budget, as well as on affected seniors' out-of-pocket costs, employers, Medicaid and others in light of the major changes in coverage enacted under the 2010 health reform law. The study estimates that raising Medicare’s eligibility…
This brief provides a side-by-side comparison of recent proposals to transform Medicare into a premium support program and slow the future growth in Medicare spending. These proposals each would convert Medicare from a defined benefit program, in which beneficiaries are guaranteed coverage for a fixed set of benefits, to a defined contribution or "premium support" program, in which beneficiaries are provided a fixed federal payment to help cover their health care expenses. The brief compares…
With Medicare expected to be a key part of Washington’s ongoing debate about solutions to reduce the federal budget and national debt, this report serves as a compendium of policy options that may be discussed in upcoming budget debates. The report presents a wide array of options in several areas and lays out the possible implications of these options for Medicare beneficiaries, health care providers, and others, as well as estimates of potential savings, when…
Foundation Senior Vice President Tricia Neuman testified Feb. 26, 2013 before the House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Health about how restructuring Medicare's deductibles and other cost-sharing requirements could affect beneficiaries. Testimony (.pdf)
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