Medicare Payments and Beneficiary Costs for Prescription Drug Coverage February 28, 2007 Issue Brief This March 2007 issue brief, commissioned by the Kaiser Family Foundation, provides a basic introduction to the reimbursement system for private Medicare drug plans. It explains the system of plan bidding and payment, including the special provisions for low-income enrollees, and considers how aspects of the payment system may affect…
Medicare and the President’s Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Proposal February 1, 2008 Fact Sheet Medicare and the President’s Fiscal Year 2009 Budget ProposalThis fact sheet summarizes key Medicare-related provisions in the Bush Administration’s fiscal year 2009 budget proposal, as well as additional legislation that responds to the Medicare Trustees’ “Medicare Funding Warning.” Fact Sheet (.pdf)
Raising Medicare’s Eligibility Age: A Complex Proposition December 17, 2012 Event 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…
Financial Incentives in the Long-Term Care Context: A First Look at Relevant Information September 30, 2010 Report Financial Incentives in the Long-Term Care Context: A First Look at Relevant Information This report reviews Medicare’s payment policies as they may affect medical care for residents in long-term care environments, including a look at the financial incentives that could play a role in hospital and skilled nursing facility admissions.…
Pulling it Together: An Actuarial Rorschach Test February 11, 2010 Perspective Drew Altman, Larry Levitt, Gary Claxton My colleagues have worked on this column with me and I invited them to join me as authors. As with pretty much every other discussion of health care going back to the days of Roosevelt, the great reform debate of 2009 (and now 2010)…
Explaining Health Care Reform: What is Comparative Effectiveness Research? September 29, 2009 Issue Brief The brief examines current funding for comparative effectiveness research, the provisions included in the current health reform legislation, and issues related to which treatments that might be studied, whether and how to weigh costs of care, and how such findings will be used and shared with health-care practitioners and the…
Summary of Key Changes to Medicare in 2010 Health Reform Law April 29, 2010 Issue Brief Summary of Key Changes to Medicare in 2010 Health Reform Law . This brief provides a detailed look at the improvements in Medicare benefits, changes to payments for providers and Medicare Advantage plans, various demonstration projects and other Medicare provisions in the law. It includes a timeline of key dates for implementing the Medicare-related provisions in the law.
Medicare Part D Update: Lessons Learned and Unfinished Business July 1, 2009 Report Enacted in 2003, Medicare’s Part D prescription drug benefit reflected an unprecedented and controversial new approach for Medicare, relying exclusively on private plans to provide health coverage and including an unusual gap in coverage. This analysis by Kaiser researchers examines in detail how the new model has worked since its…
The Burden of Out-of-Pocket Health Spending Among Older Versus Younger Adults: Analysis from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1998-2003 August 30, 2007 Issue Brief UPDATED: An updated version of this analysis is now available online. Recent policy debate has focused on the issue of rising health care costs and whether it might be possible to control costs by requiring consumers to pay a larger share of their health care costs out of pocket. While…
Most Americans Oppose Converting Medicaid to a Block Grant in Order to Reduce the Federal Deficit May 25, 2011 News Release New Poll Finds Support For Medicaid May Be Linked to Broad Ties To The Program, With Half of Americans Reporting A Personal Connection 1 in 5 Adults Has Received Medicaid Benefits Over Time, And For Most, Experiences Were Positive, Although One Third Of Them Report Having Had Problems Finding A…