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This updated issue brief from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured examines key issues related to state financing and the expansion of the Medicaid program under the new health reform law. Issue Brief (.
The Medicaid program provides health and long-term care coverage for low-income families who lack access to other affordable coverage options and for individuals with disabilities for whom private coverage is often not available or inadequate. Medicaid also plays a pivotal role in state budgets, both as an expenditure and a source of federal revenues.
One of the key challenges in enacting a health care reform plan is how to finance it among government, employers, and individuals. Of particular concern to policymakers is what effect a health reform plan would have on government spending and the federal budget.
In what would be a domestic policy trifecta, we may be headed for interconnected big debates about economic recovery, entitlement programs and health reform. A core issue in the entitlement and health reform debates is the problem of rising health care costs.
This issue brief provides an overview of California's "Bridge to Reform" Medicaid Demonstration Waiver, which was approved in 2010 and will make up to roughly $8 billion in federal Medicaid matching funds available to California over a five-year period to expand coverage to low-income uninsured adults and preserve and improve the county-based safety-net.
This study compares the value of Medicare's fee-for-service benefits last year with the value of benefits in two large employer health plans -- a large health plan serving federal employees and a typical large employer Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan.
Although Medicare is not the main focus of current health reform legislation, the bill recently passed by the House—H.R. 3962, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009—and the bill before the Senate—H.R. 3590, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—include a number of provisions that would affect Medicare program expenditures.
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.
In 2006, then-Gov. Mitt Romney signed Massachusetts' comprehensive health reform designed to provide near-universal health insurance coverage for state residents. Building on a long history of health reform efforts, the state embarked on an ambitious plan to promote shared individual, employer, and government responsibility.
As Congress and the Administration increasingly focus on the nation’s budget deficit, many policy experts and several bipartisan deficit reduction panels have proposed significant changes to Medicare to reduce federal spending and address rising health care costs.
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