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The Budget Control Act of 2011 tasked members of a "Super Committee" to find at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade. Members did not reach an agreement by the November 23 deadline and as a result automatic spending cuts to defense and entitlement programs are set to kick in beginning in January 2013. Panelists at this briefing discussed the impact the sequester will have on the health care sector and how…
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law. The health reform law, as modified by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 which passed the House of Representatives on March 21, 2010 and is under consideration in the Senate, makes several key changes to the Medicare Part D drug benefit to reduce Part D enrollees’ out-of-pocket liability when they reach the coverage gap, known as…
This updated resource features more than 80 charts and tables with detailed information about the Medicare program and the 42 million seniors and younger people with disabilities who rely on the program for health insurance coverage. It covers a wide range of relevant data, including state-by-state information when available. Each section can be accessed individually, or the full chartbook can be downloaded in its entirety. Complete Medicare Chartbook 2005 (.pdf) Overview (.pdf) Section 1: Medicare…
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…
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)
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…
Proposals to generate Medicare savings abound, from the various commissions recommending change, members of Congress and others. Which proposals will, or should receive serious considerations by the Congressional super committee in its quest to find $1.2 trillion or more in savings by its November 23 deadline? What impact would these changes have on beneficiaries, providers and insurers? Would stakeholders prefer the automatic, but capped, Medicare reductions in the sequester rather than any recommendations on Medicare…
Several deficit-reduction plans have proposed combining Medicare's separate deductibles for hospital and physician services, standardizing cost sharing across types of benefits, and establishing a new limit on annual out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries. A new Kaiser Family Foundation study examines the potential implications of proposals to revamp Medicare’s cost-sharing requirements as a way of reducing federal spending. The analysis projects what would happen if Medicare's current benefit design were replaced with a unified deductible of $550;…
This study illustrates why geography would matter for Medicare beneficiaries under a premium support system that relies on a competitive bidding process envisioned under several key Medicare reform proposals. It examines potential changes in the premiums paid by Medicare beneficiaries under a payment approach that caps federal contributions per beneficiary based on the cost of the second lowest-bidding private plan or traditional Medicare, whichever is lower in their area. Under this approach, beneficiaries can choose…
This chartbook provides the most recent and reliable data available about the Medicare program and the 47 million seniors and younger people with disabilities who get health insurance coverage through the program. Topics covered include: Medicare beneficiaries; the program's benefits, utilization, and access to care; prescription drugs; the Medicare Advantage program; the role of Medicaid for Medicare beneficiaries; supplemental insurance coverage; out-of-pocket spending; and Medicare spending and financing. Printable Chartbook (.pdf)
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