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The Kaiser Family Foundation released a new report on the implications of the new Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit for people living with HIV/AIDS. The report looks at the coverage and cost of antiretroviral drugs under the new private, stand-alone Medicare drug plans. Report (.pdf)
This paper examines the role that Medicaid plays in addressing six populations (preterm birth babies, foster care children, individuals with spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries, individuals with mental illness, individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and people with Alzheimer's disease) with serious health needs resulting in high costs. For each population profiled, the report describes the condition and the need for services and supports, as well as the role of Medicaid in meeting those…
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.
This fact sheet provides an overview of the Medicare drug benefit and the additional subsidies available to certain eligible low-income beneficiaries. Fact Sheet - December 2009 (.pdf)
Medicaid’s Rehabilitation Services Option: Overview and Current Policy Issues In 2007, the President reintroduced a plan to place new restrictions on the types of services allowable under the Medicaid rehabilitation services option (called the rehab option) to yield federal budget savings of $2.29 billion over the next five years. Currently, 47 states plus the District of Columbia provide at least some type of mental health, substance abuse, and physical health services under the rehab option.…
In August 2004, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published a proposed rule to implement the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (Title I of the Medicare Modernization Act). Given the high level of interest in the proposed rules for implementing the Medicare drug benefit, the Kaiser Family Foundation commissioned Health Policy Alternatives, Inc. to prepare this summary of the proposed regulations. Issue Brief (.pdf)
As the first phase of the new Medicare prescription drug law takes effect, the Kaiser Family Foundation commissioned focus groups conducted by Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies and Geoff Garin of Peter D. Hart Research Associates in consultation with Foundation staff. The focus groups were designed to explore what people on Medicare know and think about the discount drug card that went in effect June 1st, and the new benefit that takes effect in…
This report examines the impact of Olmstead v. L.C. five years after the United States Supreme Court’s 1999 landmark decision. The analysis brings together new research with a synthesis of research undertaken over the past five years, to help policymakers and program administrators understand the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act for health programs in Olmstead’s aftermath. Report (.pdf) Related Olmstead Materials
This report examines a Medicare-based approach to reducing the ranks of the uninsured that would permit early retirees between the ages of 62 and 65 to purchase coverage under Medicare. The paper begins with an overview of the challenges of insuring the near-elderly and explores the potential effects of a Medicare buy-in on coverage of this population. The authors conclude that, unless premiums for such coverage were low or tied to enrollees' income, this approach…
About 5 million Americans under age 65 qualify for Medicare coverage because they are totally and permanently disabled. They are more likely than the elderly to live in poverty, to be in poor health, and to experience difficulties living independently and performing basic daily tasks. A new study from The Commonwealth Fund and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, reports that the disabled have few options other than Medicaid for obtaining prescription coverage. In ,…
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