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  • Study Finds Advertising By Insurers Favors Medicare Advantage Over Stand-Alone Drug Plans

    Issue Brief

    As the marketing period for 2009 Medicare plans nears, the Kaiser Family Foundation Kaiser Family Foundation issued a report analyzing the content and frequency of television, print and radio advertisement for private Medicare plans that ran nationally or in one of three local media markets (Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Phoenix, Ariz.; and Greensboro, N.C) during the marketing and enrollment period for 2008 plan offerings. The study finds that insurers last year placed three times more advertisements…

  • What’s in the Stars? Quality Ratings of Medicare Advantage Plans, 2010

    Issue Brief

    NEW: Foundation brief looks at implications of 2011 quality ratings for Medicare Advantage plans. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rates the relative quality of the private plans that are offered to Medicare beneficiaries through the Medicare Advantage program as a way of aiding beneficiaries who are considering enrolling in such a private plan. CMS rates Medicare Advantage plans on a one to five-star scale, with five stars representing the highest quality. This…

  • Summary of Final Regulations Implementing the New Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit

    Issue Brief

    This document summarizes the final regulations to implement the new Medicare prescription drug benefit. The regulations were published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as a final rule in the Jan. 28 Federal Register. It provides an overview that allows interested parties to obtain information about specific provisions of the law. The summary was prepared by Health Policy Alternatives Inc. on behalf of the Kaiser Family Foundation. Issue Brief (.pdf)

  • Premiums and Cost Sharing Features in Medicare’s New Prescription Drug Program, 2006

    Issue Brief

    Premiums and Cost-Sharing Features in Medicare's New Prescription Drug Program, 2006 When Congress created the Medicare drug benefit in 2003, it also sought to generate more private plan options for senior and disabled beneficiaries in Medicare, with increased payments to attract sponsors and to support added benefits attractive to enrollees, especially in rural and other areas that previously had few such plans. The effects of these changes and additional payments are particularly visible this year,…

  • An Examination of Medicare Private Fee-for-Service Plans

    Issue Brief

    This March 2007 issue brief, commissioned by the Kaiser Family Foundation, provides insight Medicare private fee-for-service plans, the most rapidly growing type of Medicare Advantage plan. As of February 2007, these plans enrolled 1.3 million beneficiaries, up from just 209,000 in December 2005. The paper examines the history of these plans, their key features, trends related to their availability and enrollment and their implications for Medicare beneficiaries. Jonathan Blum, Ruth Brown and Miryam Frieder of…

  • Summary of the Proposed Rule to Implement the New Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit

    Issue Brief

    In August 2004, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published a proposed rule to implement the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (Title I of the Medicare Modernization Act). Given the high level of interest in the proposed rules for implementing the Medicare drug benefit, the Kaiser Family Foundation commissioned Health Policy Alternatives, Inc. to prepare this summary of the proposed regulations. Issue Brief (.pdf)

  • Firm Perspectives on the Medicare Advantage Market

    Issue Brief

    Based on interviews with senior executives at 14 large firms, the issue brief finds that insurers anticipate continuing to offer Medicare Advantage plans in 2012, in part because of a Medicare demonstration project that will award bonus payments to plans based on their quality standards. A companion issue brief examines trends in Medicare Advantage enrollment in 2011. The analysis was conducted by researchers at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Issue Brief…

  • Seniors' Knowledge and Experience With Medicare's Open Enrollment Period and Choosing a Plan: Key Findings from the Kaiser Family Foundation 2012 National Survey of Seniors

    Issue Brief

    These key findings from the Foundation's 2012 National Survey of Seniors relate to seniors’ knowledge and experience with Medicare’s open enrollment period and choosing a plan. The survey finds one in four seniors say they are unaware of this annual opportunity to review and change their Medicare coverage, with even larger shares who say they are unaware of Medicare’s open enrollment period among blacks and Hispanics and those seniors in fair or poor health, with…

  • Medicare Advantage in 2008

    Issue Brief

    Medicare Advantage plans enrolled a record 9.8 million beneficiaries, more than one in five of the nation’s 44 million people on Medicare as of April 2008. That represents an increase of more than 800,000 beneficiaries in just four months, continuing a period of unprecedented growth for private plans in Medicare since 2003. This issue brief, prepared for the Kaiser Family Foundation by Marsha Gold of Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., analyzes recent developments in the Medicare…

  • Medicare Advantage 2010 Data Spotlight: Plan Enrollment Patterns and Trends

    Issue Brief

    This data spotlight examines at enrollment trends in Medicare Advantage plans, including Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs) and Private Fee-for-Service (PFFS) plans. These plans are paid by the government to provide Medicare-covered benefits to those who choose to enroll in them. As of March 2010, a record 11.1 million people – nearly one in four of all Medicare beneficiaries – were enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans, up from 10.5 million in…