Filter

101 - 110 of 271 Results

  • Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act Implementation Timeline: June 2004 – December 2006 Key Dates

    Report

    Key Implementation Dates for the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit This timeline presents important dates and deadlines of key implementation activities related to the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA). It runs from the beginning of 2005 through the end of 2006, the first year of the new Medicare drug benefit. Some of these dates are defined in the MMA statute, while others are from the final rule issued by the Centers…

  • Summary of Key Changes to Medicare in 2010 Health Reform Law   

    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.

  • Massachusetts’ Demonstration to Integrate Care and Align Financing for Dual Eligible Beneficiaries

    Issue Brief

    Massachusetts is the first state to finalize a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to test CMS's capitated financial alignment model for beneficiaries who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, with enrollment beginning on April 1, 2013. Starting in 2013, CMS will implement a three-year multi-state demonstration to test new service delivery and payment models for people who are eligible for both federal health programs. Massachusetts' demonstration…

  • State Financing of the Medicare Drug Benefit:  New Data on the “Clawback”

    Issue Brief

    State Financing of the Medicare Drug Benefit: New Data on the "Clawback" Beginning in 2006, states will be obligated to finance part of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit via a monthly "clawback" payment to the federal government. This issue update analyzes the latest data and provides an overview of the state financing of the Medicare drug benefit. Issue Brief (.pdf)

  • The New Medicare Rx Benefit:  Challenges for Maintaining Access to Prescription Drugs

    Other Post

    The New Medicare Rx Benefit: Challenges for Maintaining Access to Prescription Drugs With the launch of the new Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit less than 18 months away, and growing interest in beneficiaries’ access to medications in the future, the Kaiser Family Foundation is pleased to release two new publications that examine issues concerning access to medications raised by the implementation of the new Part D Medicare prescription drug benefit. The New Medicare Drug…

  • A Medicare Buy-In for the Near Elderly: Design Issues and Potential Effects on Coverage

    Report

    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…

  • Barriers to Medicaid Enrollment for Seniors: Findings from 10 Focus Groups with Low-Income Seniors

    Report

    Medicaid coverage substantially improves access to health care and lessens the financial burden of medical care for low-income seniors, but the program currently reaches only half of all poor Medicare beneficiaries. This report presents findings of focus groups with low-income seniors in an effort to understand barriers to enrollment for those who are eligible for Medicaid but who are not enrolled in the program, and to learn about the experiences of low-income seniors who are…

  • Medicare Advantage 2010 Data Spotlight: Plan Availability and Premiums

    Issue Brief

    This data spotlight examines changes in the availability and premiums of private Medicare Advantage options for Medicare beneficiaries in 2010 as the annual open enrollment period begins. While the number of plans available in 2010 declined somewhat from 2009, the analysis finds that Medicare beneficiaries on average have 33 Medicare Advantage plans to choose from. For Medicare Advantage enrollees who stay in the same plan in 2010, monthly premiums will increase by 32 percent on…

  • Financial Alignment Models for Dual Eligibles: An Update

    Issue Brief

    The nearly nine million dual eligibles who receive both Medicare and Medicaid benefits are a high cost, high need population, accounting for a disproportionate share of expenditures relative to their enrollment in both programs. In April 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the award of design contracts to 15 states to develop service delivery and payment models to integrate care for dual eligibles. CMS and the participating states have recognized that…