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  • Explaining Health Care Reform: Key Changes to the Medicare Part D Drug Benefit Coverage Gap

    Issue Brief

    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…

  • Briefing Examines High Medicare Spending for Beneficiaries in Long-Term Care

    Event Date:
    Event

    These three reports examine the relatively high use of hospital and other Medicare-covered services and the associated costs of medical care for Medicare beneficiaries who live in nursing homes and other long-term-care facilities. They also explore the potential for delivery system reforms to improve quality and reduce costs. Medicare Spending and Use of Medical Services for Beneficiaries in Nursing Homes and Other Long-Term Care Facilities: A Potential for Achieving Medicare Savings and Improving the Quality…

  • Medicare Chart Book 2005

    Other Post

    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…

  • Health Care and the 2004 Elections: Medicare Coverage and Financing

    Issue Brief

    Medicare Coverage and Financing Download a printable .pdf of Health Care and the 2004 Elections: Medicare Coverage and Financing. IssueBackgroundPolicy Challenges Facing MedicareAssessing Candidate PositionsIssue The Medicare program is a valuable source of health insurance coverage for more than 41 million Americans. Medicare enjoys broad public support, but the program faces a number of challenges in the years ahead, including the implementation of the new Medicare drug benefit beginning in 2006. Another issue pertains to…

  • Medicare 101: What You Need to Know

    Event Date:
    Event

    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…

  • Raising the Age of Medicare Eligibility: A Fresh Look Following Implementation of Health Reform

    Report

    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…

  • Medicaid and the Budget Control Act: What Options Will Be Considered?

    Issue Brief

    On August 2, 2011, President Obama signed the Budget Control Act of 2011 into law. The Act was designed to reduce federal spending and raise the debt ceiling. It established the Joint Select Committee, also known as the “Super Committee,” tasked with decreasing projected deficits by $1.5 trillion between FY2012 and FY2021. The Committee has broad authority to propose changes to meet its target, including changes to Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, defense, taxes, and any…

  • Medicaid Financing Issues: Provider Taxes

    Fact Sheet

    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…

  • Raising Medicare Premiums for Higher-Income Beneficiaries: Assessing the Implications

    Issue Brief

    As policymakers consider ways to slow the growth in Medicare spending as part of broader efforts to reduce the federal debt or offset the cost of other spending priorities, some have proposed to increase beneficiary contributions through higher Medicare premiums. This issue brief explains provisions of current law that impose income-related premiums under Medicare Part B and Part D, describes recent proposals to modify these requirements, and analyzes the potential implications for the Medicare population.