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  • 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…

  • The Budget Control Act of 2011: Implications for Medicare

    Issue Brief

    Beginning January 2013, Medicare spending will be subject to automatic, across-the-board reductions, known as “sequestration,” which is slated to reduce Medicare payments to plans and providers by up to 2 percent. This sequestration results from provisions in the Budget Control Act of 2011, which raised the debt ceiling and will reduce net federal spending by $2.1 trillion over ten years. The Act was a bipartisan compromise negotiated between the Administration and Congressional leaders, just before…

  • Medicaid Enrollment and Expenditures by Federal Core Requirements and State Options

    Issue Brief

    To receive federal Medicaid matching funds, states that participate in Medicaid must meet federal requirements, which include covering specified “federal core” enrollee groups and mandatory health benefits. States also may choose to cover additional “state expansion” enrollees and optional benefits with federal Medicaid matching funds. The federal core eligibility standards have expanded incrementally over time, mostly for children and pregnant women, as the Medicaid program separated from welfare. Moreover, many states have taken up options…

  • Briefing – Medicare: A Primer

    Event Date:
    Event

    This briefing provided an overview of the Medicare program and its role in the health care system. Panelists discussed who is eligible for Medicare, what benefits are covered and how the program is administered. Medicare financing and the program's role in health reform was also explained. More information on Medicare from the Kaiser Family Foundation can be found in the related documents below. This March 11 briefing was cosponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation and…

  • Why Does Medicaid Spending Vary Across States: A Chartbook of Factors Driving State Spending

    Report

    This detailed chartbook provides an illustrative overview of some of the key factors that contribute to the substantial variation in Medicaid spending across states today. The chartbook provides a broad range of state-by-state data on subjects including state revenue and spending, the demand for public services, health care markets, and state Medicaid policy choices. Understanding this variation can be important for assessing state fiscal issues, the differences across states and their implications for federal and…

  • Medicare Part D Update: Lessons Learned and Unfinished Business

    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 launch almost four years ago. Published as an article in today’s New England Journal of Medicine, the analysis by Kaiser vice president Patricia Neuman and…

  • Medicaid Enrollment & Spending Growth: FY 2015 & 2016

    Issue Brief

    This report provides an overview of Medicaid financing and Medicaid spending and enrollment growth with a focus on state fiscal years 2015 and 2016 (FY 2015 and FY 2016.) Findings are based on interviews and data provided by state Medicaid directors as part of the 15th annual survey of Medicaid directors in all 50 states and the District of Columbia conducted by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) survey and Health Management…

  • The Affordable Care Act Drove Record Annual Increases in Enrollment and Total Medicaid Spending Nationally in FY 2015, As Newly Eligible Adults gained Coverage in Expansion States

    News Release

    High Federal Match for Adult Expansion Group Contributed to Substantially Slower State Medicaid Spending Growth in Expansion States Compared to Non-Expansion States Survey Also Finds States Relying More on Managed Care, Undertaking Delivery System Reforms The Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion resulted in record increases in Medicaid enrollment and spending nationally in fiscal year 2015, with both rising an average of nearly 14 percent, according to the 15th annual 50-state Medicaid budget survey by the…