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  • Explaining Health Reform: Key Changes in the Medicare Advantage Program

    Issue Brief

    This brief examines the changes in the 2010 health reform law affecting the Medicare Advantage program, which gives beneficiaries the option of enrolling in private insurance plans for their Medicare benefits, instead of the traditional fee-for-service program. The reform law will gradually reduce Medicare payments to these plans to bring the average payment closer to the costs of traditional fee-for-service Medicare, while rewarding plans with high-quality ratings. The brief also describes new benefit requirements for…

  • Summary of Key Changes to Medicare in 2010 Health Reform Law   

    Issue Brief

    Summary of Key Changes to Medicare in 2010 Health Reform Law . This brief provides a detailed look at the improvements in Medicare benefits, changes to payments for providers and Medicare Advantage plans, various demonstration projects and other Medicare provisions in the law. It includes a timeline of key dates for implementing the Medicare-related provisions in the law.

  • Explaining Health Reform: Medicare and the New Independent Payment Advisory Board

    Issue Brief

    This brief describes how the new board created under the 2010 health reform law is expected to limit the growth in Medicare spending over time. Starting in 2014, if projected per capita Medicare spending exceeds targets set in the law, the board must recommend ways to reduce Medicare spending, while maintaining quality and access to care for beneficiaries. The board’s recommendations automatically take effect the next year unless Congress adopts an alternative plan to achieve…

  • Medicare Health and Prescription Drug Plans Report

    Other Post

    Medicare Health and Prescription Drug Plans Monthly Tracking Reports These briefs present monthly data on Medicare Advantage participation, enrollment and penetration. They also summarize recent activities by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), participating health plans, and the research community pertaining to the Medicare Advantage program and prescription drug plans that began serving the Medicare population in January 2006. The reports were prepared by researchers at Mathematica Policy Research Inc. April 2010 Report…

  • Medicare Advantage 2010 Data Spotlight: Benefits and Cost-Sharing

    Issue Brief

    This data spotlight examines trends in benefits and cost-sharing for Medicare Advantage plans in 2010, including the wide variations found across plans and the rapid increase in cost sharing requirements for some benefits, including stays in skilled nursing facilities. It also examines the annual limits on out-of-pocket spending set by most Medicare Advantage plans and the availability of coverage for drugs in the Medicare drug benefit's coverage gap, or "doughnut hole." This data spotlight is…

  • Medicare Advantage 2010 Data Spotlights

    Report

    Now Available: 2011 Medicare Advantage Spotlight: Plan Availability and Premiums The Kaiser Family Foundation has issued a series of data spotlight looking at the 2010 Medicare Advantage plan options and trends around the Medicare Advantage plan. These spotlights were prepared by a team of researchers at Mathematica Policy Research Inc. and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Plan Enrollment Patterns and Trends Benefits and Cost Sharing Plan Availability and Premiums

  • 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…

  • Medicare Advantage 2010 Data Spotlight: Plan Availability and Premiums

    Issue Brief

    This data spotlight examines changes in the availability and premiums of private Medicare Advantage options for Medicare beneficiaries in 2010 as the annual open enrollment period begins. While the number of plans available in 2010 declined somewhat from 2009, the analysis finds that Medicare beneficiaries on average have 33 Medicare Advantage plans to choose from. For Medicare Advantage enrollees who stay in the same plan in 2010, monthly premiums will increase by 32 percent on…

  • Examining Sources of Supplemental Insurance and Prescription Drug Coverage Among Medicare Beneficiaries: Findings from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, 2007

    Report

    This updated chartpack presents sources of supplemental and prescription drug coverage among Medicare beneficiaries in 2007, the most recent year for which national data are available. The chartpack looks at variations in supplemental and prescription drug coverage by income, race/ethnicity, age, urban/rural location, and health status. It also examines characteristics of Medicare beneficiaries with low incomes who are not enrolled in a Part D plan or receiving Part D low-income subsidies. Prepared by Kaiser Family…