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  • The Policy Implications of Medicare’s New Measure of Financial Health

    Issue Brief

    This report examines a new measure of Medicare’s financial health established by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA). The report, authored by Marilyn Moon, takes an in-depth look at the program’s new solvency test, which measures general revenues as a share of total Medicare spending and can trigger a “funding warning” that compels the President to propose and the Congress to consider a funding warning.

  • The U.S. Response to Coronavirus: Summary of the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020

    Issue Brief

    The Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020, which was passed with near unanimous support in both the House and Senate, was signed into law by the President on March 6, 2020. The bill provides $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. This summary provides details on funding specified in the bill.

  • What’s in There? The New Health Reform Law and Medicare

    Event Date:
    Event

    As part of an ongoing series to explore what is in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, this May 7 briefing sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform and the Kaiser Family Foundation examines how the reform law affects Medicare. Changes to Medicare were among the most hotly debated issues as the legislation was developed, and this briefing includes a detailed look at the…

  • The Independent Payment Advisory Board: A New Approach to Controlling Medicare Spending

    Issue Brief

    In 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act authorized the creation of the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) to help control the growth in Medicare costs. Beginning in 2014, IPAB will issue recommendations to lower Medicare costs in the event that spending exceeds targets established in the health care reform law. This brief explains how the Independent Payment Advisory Board will be structured, the process and timelines for IPAB to make recommendations to achieve…

  • Health Reform Implementation: When Sausage-Making Moves Downtown

    Event Date:
    Event

    Panelists at this briefing examine what's happening behind the scenes to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. An overview of federal policymaking and the efforts by stakeholders and others to affect final policies pertaining to the health reform law is provided. The session will look into key tools and levers available to the federal government, including formal rulemaking and other policy processes, as well as efforts by stakeholders and others to affect final…

  • Resources Examine Recession-Driven Record Medicaid Enrollment and Assess Medicaid Spending Growth

    Fact Sheet

    Three papers from the Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured examine Medicaid enrollment and spending during the recent recession. The analyses show Medicaid enrollment rose above 50 million people nationally for the first time in 2010, reflecting the program’s counter-cyclical role of helping people who become uninsured when the economy falters, with many turning to Medicaid after losing jobs and employer-based health insurance. Without access to Medicaid coverage, millions more people who suffered economic…

  • Raising Medicare Premiums for Higher-Income Beneficiaries: Assessing the Implications

    Issue Brief

    As policymakers consider ways to slow the growth in Medicare spending as part of broader efforts to reduce the federal debt or offset the cost of other spending priorities, some have proposed to increase beneficiary contributions through higher Medicare premiums. This issue brief explains provisions of current law that impose income-related premiums under Medicare Part B and Part D, describes recent proposals to modify these requirements, and analyzes the potential implications for the Medicare population.

  • 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…