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  • To Hospitalize or Not to Hospitalize? Medical Care for Long-Term Care Facility Residents

    Report

    To Hospitalize or Not to Hospitalize? Medical Care for Long-Term Care Facility Residents This report explores factors that appear to drive relatively high rates of hospitalizations, based on interviews with doctors, nursing home staff and families in four cities. Key factors include liability concerns, limited onsite staff capabilities, difficulty reaching residents' physicians for care instructions on nights and weekends, better and more timely access to diagnostic tests in hospitals, and patient preferences. Physicians with patients…

  • Medicaid 101: What You Need to Know

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    Event

    The Alliance for Health Reform and the Kaiser Family Foundation present a briefing to discuss the basics of Medicaid and its role in the health care system. Speakers address questions on how the program is administered, how much it costs and how it is financed, as well as how the Affordable Care Act affects the program and what states are doing to transform Medicaid to meet current and future needs of its beneficiaries. For more…

  • Medicare Payments and Beneficiary Costs for Prescription Drug Coverage

    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 the total cost of the drug benefit over time, the cost of coverage for beneficiaries and the variety and quality of available plans. Mark Merlis…

  • Long-term Services and Supports: A Rebalancing Act

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    Event

    The ongoing debate over the federal budget and deficit reduction presents a balancing act for policymakers, as many compelling interests compete for scarce dollars. But for 10 million older adults and people with disabilities who need long-term services and supports, there is a "rebalancing act" in progress. The aim is to serve more people at home and in the community, and fewer people in institutions. Are there sufficient home- and community-based programs in all states…

  • Income-Relating Medicare Part B and Part D Premiums: How Many Medicare Beneficiaries Will Be Affected?

    Issue Brief

    Income-Relating Medicare Part B and Part D Premiums: How Many Medicare Beneficiaries Will Be Affected? New in February 2012: Brief Examines Proposals to Further Expand Medicare's Income-Related Premiums This new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation examines the number of Medicare beneficiaries who will pay higher Part B or Part D premiums as a result of newly enacted provisions included the 2010 health reform law. Part B Premiums. The health reform law modifies a requirement…

  • Health Coverage and Expenses: Impact on Older Women’s Economic Well-Being

    Issue Brief

    In this article in the Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, researchers from the Kaiser Family Foundation examine how health issues that women face over the course of their lives, as well as policies that shape Medicare, Medicaid and other supplemental coverage, can affect retired women's economic well-being. They found that women's health care expenses were higher than men's; that older women paid for a greater share of their total spending out of pocket and that…

  • KFF April Tracking Poll: Opinions of Reform Remain Steady

    Perspective

    This month, public opinion on the health reform law continues to be remarkably steady. The April Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that four in ten feel favorably about the law and an equal share say they feel unfavorably. In recent months there has been a slight decline in the share with an unfavorable view of the law, with a corresponding uptick in the share who offer no opinion on the law. The rise in those…

  • Prescription Drug Procurement and the Federal Budget

    Issue Brief

    This brief commissioned by the Foundation considers areas where Medicare faces limited opportunity for market-based competition and price negotiation to drive down drug spending. These areas include drug purchasing for low-income people enrolled in Part D plans who face minimal cost-sharing requirements, and purchasing certain unique drugs, such as biologicals, that have no therapeutic alternatives or competitors. Authored by Richard G. Frank of Harvard University, the brief discusses policy options that could lower Medicare spending…

  • Program Integrity: Preventing Health Care Fraud and Abuse

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    Event

    Headlines regularly call attention to pockets of fraudulent activity in the health care arena - scams that amount to millions and potentially billions of dollars. The stories typically focus on catching the crooks but not so much on efforts to prevent fraud, waste and abuse in health care programs. Both types of efforts are important. With continued concerns about rising health care costs and the current focus on deficit reduction, how much money can be…