Filter

31 - 40 of 393 Results

  • 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…

  • Changes in Health Insurance Status over a Two-Year Period

    Issue Brief

    The ability to maintain health insurance in the face of rising costs and an uncertain economy is a key concern for families and featured prominently in the health reform debate. While the percentage of the population without coverage at any one time changes by only a relatively small amount over a one- or two-year period, the percentage of people who start out with coverage and lose it for a meaningful amount of time during the…

  • Pulling it Together: When Premiums Go Up 39%

    Perspective

    Our group that works on health care cost issues just updated an analysis that sheds light on what’s really happening to people in the individual health insurance market, the issue Secretary Sebelius, a former Kansas insurance commissioner, and others have put in the spotlight by calling on Anthem and other insurance companies to account for their proposed high premium increases. The analysis shows that people buying health insurance on their own in the individual market…

  • Private Insurers Expect to Pay $1 Billion in Rebates to Consumers This Year for Setting Premiums Too High Relative to Medical Costs

    News Release

    Private insurance companies are expecting to pay out $1 billion in rebates to consumers this fall under an Affordable Care Act provision that requires insurers to spend the bulk of customers’ premium payments on care, a new KFF analysis finds. Rebates are based on insurers’ experiences over the previous three years. This year’s total is roughly half the size of last year’s $2 billion, in part because 2021 was a less profitable year and because…

  • Survey: Assisters Help Estimated 5.3 Million During 2016 ACA Open Enrollment, Down 10 Percent from Prior Year

    News Release

    During the third Affordable Care Act open enrollment period, assistance programs helped an estimated 5.3 million people -- a number that was 10 percent lower than the prior year and that included a higher share of people renewing coverage, finds a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey of assister programs and brokers. Both assisters and brokers report a shift toward more return customers among those who sought assistance during the 2016 ACA open enrollment period, which…

  • KFF Examines Key Considerations for the Implementation of Insurance Coverage for Over-the-Counter Contraceptives

    News Release

    With federal regulators seeking public input on the potential benefits, costs, and implementation considerations of requiring private health insurance plans to cover over-the-counter preventive products without a prescription, a new KFF post explores the issues relevant to covering over-the-counter contraceptives. These contraceptives include Opill, the first daily oral contraceptive pill to receive FDA approval for over-the-counter availability. The analysis draws on the lessons learned from KFF staff interviews with more than 80 key players nationally…

  • ANALYSIS: ACA Marketplace Premiums Rise Substantially in 2018, But Many Will Pay Less for Coverage

    News Release

    Premiums will rise substantially in 2018 Affordable Care Act marketplace plans for states using HealthCare.gov, but in many cases, people receiving premium tax credits will pay less than they did in 2017, a new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis finds. The new analysis includes county-level interactive maps charting premium changes of lowest-cost gold, silver, and bronze plans for consumers with and without premium tax credits in the 2018 HealthCare.gov marketplaces. For people not eligible for tax…

  • Survey of Health Insurance Agents: Assessing Trends in the Individual and Small Group Insurance Markets

    Poll Finding

    This nationally representative survey of 500 health insurance agents and brokers working in the individual and small group markets explores their outlook on market trends and views on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The survey finds that many agents are seeing steep increases in premiums and deductibles for individuals and small businesses purchasing health insurance. When asked to estimate what they expect to be the typical premium increase in 2012 based on what they have…

  • Pulling It Together: What Do We Want Health Insurance To Be?

    Perspective

    Trends in the health insurance marketplace show substantial growth in high deductible health plans, especially among smaller firms, where 35% of workers are now covered by plans with a deductible of $1,000 or more. That's according to our recently released employer health benefits survey, which we have been conducting now for ten years. The majority of these plans are simply high deductible health plans; only a minority are so-called "consumer driven" plans with savings accounts.…

  • The Individual Mandate: How Sweeping?

    Perspective

    The so-called "individual mandate"  – the provision under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires most individuals to carry a minimum level of insurance coverage and is now being considered by the Supreme Court – has emerged as the least popular element of the reform law and the prime target for its opponents. Yet in practice, the mandate may not be quite as far-reaching as the controversy over it suggests. The vast majority of Americans already…