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  • The Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy Program: Experience to Date and Policy Issues for Consideration

    Issue Brief

    This policy brief examines the low-income subsidy program that provides premiums and cost-sharing assistance under Part D plans, documenting trends in both beneficiary and plan participation over time. With fewer plans available to low-income enrollees without having to pay a premium, and annual changes in those plans, the brief discusses challenges facing low-income Part D enrollees and strategies that could be used to increase the effectiveness of the subsidy program. It was prepared for the…

  • 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…

  • Medicare Prescription Drug Plans In 2010 and Key Changes Over Five Years

    Issue Brief

    This brief summarizes key findings from the full collection of 2010 Part D Data Spotlights examining key trends in the private stand-alone drug plans available to Medicare beneficiaries. 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 analysis was conducted jointed by Jack Hoadley and Laura Summer of Georgetown University, Elizabeth Hargrave of NORC at the University of Chicago,…

  • Medicare Part D 2010 Data Spotlights

    Issue Brief

    The Kaiser Family Foundation has issued a collection of analyses related to the Part D Medicare stand-alone drug plan options available to seniors for calendar year 2010. Each of these spotlights focuses on a key aspect of the drug plans that will be available to Medicare beneficiaries in 2010 and examine relevant trends since the Medicare drug benefit took effect in 2006. They were prepared by a team of researchers at Georgetown University, NORC and…

  • Chronic Disease and Co-Morbidity Among Dual Eligibles: Implications for Patterns of Medicaid and Medicare Service Use and Spending

    Report

    The health reform law contains provisions that aim to improve the delivery and coordination of services for persons enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare, known as the dual eligibles. This population includes individuals with some of the most severely disabling chronic conditions. While the higher costs associated with services to dual eligibles is well-known, information on how spending is distributed across these programs is less understood. This study uses linked Medicare and Medicaid data to…

  • 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.

  • Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program Provisions in the New Health Reform Law

    Issue Brief

    This brief compares the Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program provisions in the new health reform law with pre-reform law governing those programs. The analysis focuses on Medicaid coverage and financing changes; how Medicaid and CHIP will interface with a new health insurance exchange and other Medicaid benefits and access changes. Overall, the new law includes an individual requirement to obtain health insurance, a significant Medicaid expansion and subsidies to help low-income individuals buy coverage…

  • Medicaid Financial Eligibility: Primary Pathways for the Elderly and People with Disabilities

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief details the various eligibility pathways by which individuals with disabilities and the elderly can qualify for Medicaid coverage. The program, which serves as a safety net for many of the nation’s poorest and sickest individuals, provides health coverage to nearly 60 million Americans, including 8.5 million with disabilities and 8.8 million low-income frail, elderly and disabled Medicare beneficiaries who rely on Medicaid to fill Medicare’s gaps.  Issue Brief (.pdf)

  • Medicare Part D 2010 Data Spotlight: The Coverage Gap

    Report

    This data spotlight examines the coverage gap, or "doughnut hole," in Medicare stand-alone drug plans available in 2010. While in the gap in coverage, Part D enrollees (other than those receiving low-income subsidies) are required to pay 100 percent of total drug costs until they reach the catastrophic coverage level. In 2010, nearly all the private stand-alone drug plans have a coverage gap, though a small share do provide some help to beneficiaries in the…