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This one page document summarizes the provisions in the new Medicare law that deal with providing financial subsidies to low-income beneficiaries for their drug coverage. Issue Paper (.pdf)
About 9 million low-income seniors and younger people with disabilities in the United States are covered by both Medicare and Medicaid. This brief examines the role of Medicare in providing health coverage for these beneficiaries. Medicare is the primary source of health insurance, while Medicaid provides supplemental coverage, helping with premiums and cost-sharing and paying for services not covered by Medicare. This brief examines overall and per capita Medicare spending for these beneficiaries, including variations…
This issue paper provides state-level estimates on spending on dual eligibles and illustrates the fiscal effects of scenarios where the federal government assumes the cost of prescription drugs, Medicare premiums, acute care, and long-term care for this population. Issue Paper (.pdf)
New Medicare Drug Benefit's Impact on States and Low-Income Beneficiaries The recently signed Medicare prescription drug bill transfers responsibility for providing prescription drug coverage to dual-eligible beneficiaries from Medicaid to Medicare and creates a new subsidy program for low-income Medicare beneficiaries. These changes will have a major impact on state Medicaid programs both fiscally and administratively and it will also mean major changes for low-income beneficiaries' drug coverage. Presentation: Medicare Prescription Drugs and Low-Income Beneficiaries…
This paper identifies and examines consumer protection issues that arise from the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. Key issue areas include: beneficiary information, marketing, enrollment and disenrollment, the drug benefit package and cost-sharing, the appeals process, concerns for low-income beneficiaries, challenges for nursing home issues, and fraud and abuse. Report (.pdf)
For a number of years, Governors and other state policymakers have maintained that Medicare - rather than state Medicaid programs - should play the key role in providing prescription drug coverage to Medicare beneficiaries, including those who also qualify for Medicaid because they are impoverished and/or have extensive health care needs (i.e, the "dual eligibles"). Although the new Medicare prescription drug benefit law shifts drug coverage for dual eligibles from Medicaid to Medicare, it does…
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…
These toplines provide the complete results from a comprehensive survey of seniors on their understanding of and views toward the Medicare drug benefit. The survey of 802 seniors was conducted in late October 2005, prior to the start of the benefit's open enrollment period, which runs from Nov. 15, 2005 to May 15, 2006. The survey was conducted and analyzed by researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. It…
This focus group of 12 state Medicaid officials conducted in November 2005 explores the current status and likely results of the Part D dual eligible transition efforts as well as other Part D-related issues of particular importance to states. It includes discussion of the transition of dual eligibles from Medicaid to Medicare drug coverage, evaluating Part D plan options, states’ role in the low-income subsidy program, the fiscal implications of Part D to states, and…
This fact sheet provides an overview of the role of Medicare and Medicaid in serving these beneficiaries; describes the health status of dual Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries, and discusses issues of managed care and access to care. Available in PDF format. Return to top Library Index
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