Low Income - Research and Data from KFF

State Profiles Highlight Variations in How Many Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries Get Additional Help with Their Medicare Costs

Apr 20, 2022

News Release

Medicare beneficiaries with low incomes and modest assets can qualify for additional financial help with Medicare premiums and cost sharing through both the Medicare Savings Programs and Medicare’s Part D Low-Income Subsidy for prescription drug coverage. A new analysis and collection of interactive profiles highlight variations across states in the number and characteristics of beneficiaries who receive this additional financial assistance, including race and ethnicity, gender, and age. These findings reflect differences between states such…

Help with Medicare Premium and Cost-Sharing Assistance Varies by State

Apr 20, 2022

Issue Brief

This data note provides an overview of programs that help beneficiaries with modest incomes with their Medicare costs, including the Medicare Savings Programs and the Part D Low-Income Subsidy, and highlights findings from corresponding state-level profiles of eligibility and enrollment.

Medicare State Profiles

Apr 19, 2022

Interactive

These state profiles capture the variations across states in the number and characteristics of Medicare beneficiaries through the Medicare Savings Programs and Medicare’s Part D Low-Income Subsidy.

KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: The Pandemic’s Toll on Workers and Family Finances During the Omicron Surge

Mar 10, 2022

Poll Finding

The Vaccine Monitor report examines how families and workers fared financially during the omicron surge. Large shares of workers missed work due to being sick from coronavirus, having to quarantine, or their workplace being closed due to the pandemic. Many, particularly those with lower incomes, report impacts on their family’s finances and stress level.

4 in 10 Workers – and 6 in 10 of Those with Low Incomes – Say They Missed Work During the Omicron Surge Due to COVID-19 Illness, Quarantine or Closure

Mar 10, 2022

News Release

The surge in COVID-19 cases triggered by the omicron variant led to widespread work disruptions, with about 4 in 10 workers (42%) – including 6 in 10 of those with lower incomes – saying they had to miss work at least once in the past three months because of a COVID-19 illness, quarantine, or closure, a new KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor report shows. Among all workers, a quarter (26%) say they missed work because they…

Build Back Better Would Change the Ways Low-Income People get Health Insurance

Dec 14, 2021

Issue Brief

The Build Back Better Act would make a number of changes to the way people get health insurance and how health care is financed, including by temporarily closing the Medicaid coverage gap.

Federal Policy May Temporarily Close the Coverage Gap, But Long-term Coverage May Fall Back to States

Nov 4, 2021

Policy Watch

Recent policy attention has focused on closing the coverage gap for roughly 2.2 million individuals living in the 12 states that have not adopted Medicaid expansion included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These individuals do not qualify for Medicaid and have incomes below poverty, making them ineligible for premium subsidies in the ACA Marketplace. Pending federal legislation may temporarily provide coverage to individuals in the coverage gap, but providing a permanent pathway to coverage may fall back…

A Record 3,834 Medicare Advantage Plans Will be Available in 2022, Up 8 Percent From 2021, While the Number of Medicare Part D Stand-Alone Plans is Decreasing Mainly Due to Firm Consolidations

Nov 2, 2021

News Release

A record 3,834 Medicare Advantage plans will be available across the country as alternatives to traditional Medicare for 2022, a new KFF analysis finds. That’s an increase of 8 percent from 2021, and the largest number of plans available in more than a decade. At the same time, the number of Medicare Part D stand-alone prescription drug plans that will be offered in 2022 is decreasing by 23 percent to 766 plans, primarily the result…

Medicare Part D: A First Look at Medicare Prescription Drug Plans in 2022

Nov 2, 2021

Issue Brief

This issue brief provides an overview of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit market for 2022, with a primary focus on stand-alone drug plans. It includes national and state-level data on plan availability, premiums, benefit design, cost sharing, information about premium-free plans for low-income beneficiaries, and information about the national Part D drug plans available in 2022.

The Inequity Of The Medicaid Coverage Gap and Why It Is Hard To Fix It

Oct 14, 2021

Perspective

In this column for the JAMA Health Forum, Larry Levitt explores why the Medicaid "coverage gap" still exists in 12 states that have not expanded their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act, why it matters, and why eliminating it could prove challenging.

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