Home Deficit Reduction Tags

View the Latest: Deficit Reduction

Filter

List Grid

61 - 70 of 118 Results

  • Explaining Health Reform: Key Changes in the Medicare Advantage Program

    Issue Brief

    This brief examines the changes in the 2010 health reform law affecting the Medicare Advantage program, which gives beneficiaries the option of enrolling in private insurance plans for their Medicare benefits, instead of the traditional fee-for-service program. The reform law will gradually reduce Medicare payments to these plans to bring the average payment closer to the costs of traditional fee-for-service Medicare, while rewarding plans with high-quality ratings. The brief also describes new benefit requirements for…

  • Pulling it Together from Drew Altman: Multiple Agendas for Controlling Health Care Costs

    Perspective

    In what would be a domestic policy trifecta, we may be headed for interconnected big debates about economic recovery, entitlement programs and health reform. A core issue in the entitlement and health reform debates is the problem of rising health care costs. President Obama, now apparently fully briefed on the economic, budget and health reform realities he faces, is talking conspicuously about hard choices that may lie ahead. In a short period of time the…

  • Raising Medicare’s Age of Eligibility to 67 Would Achieve Significant Savings, But Shift Costs To 65- and 66-Year-Olds, Other Individuals, Employers and Medicaid, New Analysis Shows

    News Release

    Study Estimates Two in Three People Ages 65 and 66 Would Pay $2,200 More On Average For Health Care in 2014 Than They Would If They Remained in Medicare MENLO PARK, Calif. -- Raising Medicare’s eligibility age from 65 to 67 in 2014 would generate an estimated $5.7 billion in net savings to the federal government, but also result in an estimated net increase of $3.7 billion in out-of-pocket costs for 65- and 66-year-olds, and…

  • Integrating Care for Dual Eligibles: What Do Consumers Want?

    Event Date:
    Event

    Many deficit reduction plans have recognized the need to improve care for the 9 million beneficiaries dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. How do Medicaid and Medicare coordinate payment and care for people covered by both programs? Are Health and Human Services initiatives encouraging innovations to integrate care for dual eligible beneficiaries? What kind of programs are currently available? What do consumers think about different ways of getting care? What lessons for program design can…

  • Chronic Disease and Co-Morbidity Among Dual Eligibles: Implications for Patterns of Medicaid and Medicare Service Use and Spending

    Report

    The health reform law contains provisions that aim to improve the delivery and coordination of services for persons enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare, known as the dual eligibles. This population includes individuals with some of the most severely disabling chronic conditions. While the higher costs associated with services to dual eligibles is well-known, information on how spending is distributed across these programs is less understood. This study uses linked Medicare and Medicaid data to…

  • 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…

  • Medicare Part D 2010 Data Spotlights

    Issue Brief

    The Kaiser Family Foundation has issued a collection of analyses related to the Part D Medicare stand-alone drug plan options available to seniors for calendar year 2010. Each of these spotlights focuses on a key aspect of the drug plans that will be available to Medicare beneficiaries in 2010 and examine relevant trends since the Medicare drug benefit took effect in 2006. They were prepared by a team of researchers at Georgetown University, NORC and…

  • Role of Government Survey

    Poll Finding

    The Foundation, as part of The Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard University partnership series, conducted a poll to examine the public's views on the government and its role. The Role of Government Survey is the 20th in a series of surveys dating back to 1995 that have been conducted as part of this partnership project. Toplines (.pdf) Read The Washington Post articles on the survey:Beyond the tea party: What Americans really think of governmentEnergized GOP can…

  • Pulling it Together: The People Behind The Entitlement Debate

    Perspective

    Well before we have any clarity on the impact of the election on health reform, the pundits are handicapping the prospects of efforts to make a serious dent in the national debt and deficit.  Three national commissions are hammering out recommendations for reducing the debt and reining in entitlement spending, putting two giant health programs that serve the elderly, disabled and low-income Americans, Medicaid and Medicare, as well as Social Security, in the crosshairs of…

  • Special Needs Plans: Availability and Enrollment

    Report

    Special Needs Plans are a form of Medicare Advantage plan authorized to provide a managed care option for beneficiaries with significant or relatively specialized care needs, including Medicare beneficiaries who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, beneficiaries living in nursing homes or other institutions, and beneficiaries with severe chronic or disabling conditions. This data spotlight examines availability and enrollment trends for Special Needs Plans, which account for a small share of enrollment today but…