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  • Transforming Medicare into a Premium Support System: Implications for Beneficiary Premiums

    Report

    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…

  • Medicare Part D 2010 Data Spotlight: Coverage of Top Brand-Name and Specialty Drugs

    Issue Brief

    This Part D Data Spotlight documents the wide variations across the private stand-alone drug plans with respect to coverage of drugs, what enrollees pay for those drugs, and restrictions and limitations placed on their use. These variations have potentially significant implications for beneficiaries’ access to medications and out-of-pocket costs. The spotlight is one in a series analyzing key aspects of the Medicare Part D drug plans that will be available to beneficiaries in 2010. The…

  • The Nuts and Bolts of Medicare Premium Support Proposals

    Issue Brief

    In April 2011, as part of its 2012 budget resolution, the U.S. House included a proposal to reduce Medicare spending by transforming the program into a system sometimes called "premium support" or vouchers. Such an approach also has been a central element of other proposals by national leaders seeking to reduce the federal deficit and national debt. This Kaiser Family Foundation brief reviews the evolution of the premium support concept, examines key policy decisions and…

  • The Role of Medicare and Beneficiaries in the Deficit-Reduction Debate

    Event Date:
    Event

    This Kaiser Family Foundation briefing examined how Medicare reform options now under consideration might work and their implications for beneficiaries and taxpayers. As context for understanding the potential effects of reforms, the briefing looked at the current and projected income and assets of people on Medicare, out-of pocket health care spending and the ability of Medicare beneficiaries to absorb rising costs. The Foundation also released a new report and video profiling Medicare families and the…

  • 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…

  • The Budget Control Act of 2011: Implications for Medicare

    Issue Brief

    Beginning January 2013, Medicare spending will be subject to automatic, across-the-board reductions, known as “sequestration,” which is slated to reduce Medicare payments to plans and providers by up to 2 percent. This sequestration results from provisions in the Budget Control Act of 2011, which raised the debt ceiling and will reduce net federal spending by $2.1 trillion over ten years. The Act was a bipartisan compromise negotiated between the Administration and Congressional leaders, just before…

  • The President’s FY 2006 Budget Proposal:

    Report

    Overview and Briefing Charts This chartpack reviews the President’s FY 2006 budget request to Congress and highlights overall budget assumptions and funding for major health programs. It begins with a description of the federal budget process, followed by an overview of federal surplus/deficit spending patterns dating back to 1969. It then turns to summary information on the overall composition of the Administration’s budget, followed by the President’s proposed funding for some of the major programs…

  • 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…