Medicare Payments and Beneficiary Costs for Prescription Drug Coverage February 28, 2007 Issue Brief This March 2007 issue brief, commissioned by the Kaiser Family Foundation, provides a basic introduction to the reimbursement system for private Medicare drug plans. It explains the system of plan bidding and payment, including the special provisions for low-income enrollees, and considers how aspects of the payment system may affect…
National ADAP Monitoring Project Annual Report, April 2008 March 30, 2008 Event The National ADAP Monitoring Project Annual Report provides the latest data on state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs). ADAPs, part of the Ryan White Program, provide HIV medications to low-income people with HIV/AIDS who have limited or no prescription drug coverage. ADAPs operate in all 50 states, the District of…
Medicare and the President’s Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Proposal February 1, 2008 Fact Sheet Medicare and the President’s Fiscal Year 2009 Budget ProposalThis fact sheet summarizes key Medicare-related provisions in the Bush Administration’s fiscal year 2009 budget proposal, as well as additional legislation that responds to the Medicare Trustees’ “Medicare Funding Warning.” Fact Sheet (.pdf)
The High and Rising Costs Of Health Care: What Can Be Done? June 12, 2012 Event The Alliance for Health Reform, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and several cosponsors held the final event in a three-part series of discussions on costs, the factors driving them up and what (if anything) can be done about them. This briefing and others in the series take an in-depth look at…
Waiting for Economic Recovery, Poised for Health Care Reform: A Mid-Year Update for FY 2011 – Looking Forward to FY 2012 January 1, 2011 Report This report, based on structured discussions in November and December 2010 with leading Medicaid directors, augments the findings from the most recent comprehensive 50-state Medicaid budget survey to provide a mid-year 2011 update on state Medicaid issues. As they prepare their fiscal 2012 budgets, many states, some under new gubernatorial…
Medicare Part D Update: Lessons Learned and Unfinished Business July 1, 2009 Report Enacted in 2003, Medicare’s Part D prescription drug benefit reflected an unprecedented and controversial new approach for Medicare, relying exclusively on private plans to provide health coverage and including an unusual gap in coverage. This analysis by Kaiser researchers examines in detail how the new model has worked since its…
State Fiscal Conditions and Medicaid Program Changes, FY 2012-2013 November 28, 2012 Fact Sheet 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…
The Burden of Out-of-Pocket Health Spending Among Older Versus Younger Adults: Analysis from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1998-2003 August 30, 2007 Issue Brief UPDATED: An updated version of this analysis is now available online. Recent policy debate has focused on the issue of rising health care costs and whether it might be possible to control costs by requiring consumers to pay a larger share of their health care costs out of pocket. While…
Medicaid Expansion Briefing: What’s at Stake for States? November 30, 2012 Event The Alliance for Health Reform and the Kaiser Family Foundation present a November 30 briefing to discuss the Medicaid expansion and what’s at stake for states. Speakers address questions around the potential financial impact of the expansion on states, the role of the federal government in financing the expansion, and…
Comparison of Medicare Premium Support Proposals July 26, 2012 Issue Brief This brief provides a side-by-side comparison of recent proposals to transform Medicare into a premium support program and slow the future growth in Medicare spending. These proposals each would convert Medicare from a defined benefit program, in which beneficiaries are guaranteed coverage for a fixed set of benefits, to a…