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  • Key Facts About Medicare Part D Enrollment and Costs in 2023

    Issue Brief

    The Medicare Part D program provides an outpatient prescription drug benefit to older adults and people with long-term disabilities in Medicare who enroll in private plans. This brief analyzes Medicare Part D enrollment and costs in 2023 and trends over time. The analysis highlights the substantial growth of Medicare Advantage drug plans in the marketplace for Part D drug coverage, where enrollment overall is concentrated in a handful of large plan sponsors.

  • Selected Findings on Knowledge and Understanding of the New Medicare Rx Drug Program — March/April 2004 Kaiser Health Poll Report Survey

    Poll Finding

    Selected findings from the March/April 2004 Kaiser Family Foundation Health Poll Report survey underscores the need to educate seniors about the new Medicare prescription drug program - both the transitional discount card program that will be go into effect on June 1, 2004 and the full Medicare benefit that begins in January 2006. The survey, which is conducted every two months, is designed and analyzed by staff at the Foundation and colleagues at the Harvard…

  • What Happens When COVID-19 Emergency Declarations End? Implications for Coverage, Costs, and Access

    Issue Brief

    This brief provides an overview of the major health-related COVID-19 federal emergency declarations that have been made since early on in the pandemic, summarizes the flexibilities triggered by each, and identifies the implications for their ending, related to coverage, costs, and payment for COVID-19 testing, treatments, and vaccines; Medicaid coverage and federal match rates; telehealth; access to medical countermeasures through FDA emergency use authorization (EUA); and other Medicaid, Medicare and private health insurance flexibilities.

  • Medicare Part D: A First Look at Plan Offerings in 2016

    Issue Brief

    During the Medicare open enrollment period, beneficiaries have the opportunity to enroll in a plan that provides Part D prescription drug coverage, either a stand-alone prescription drug plan (PDP) to supplement traditional Medicare, or a Medicare Advantage drug plan. This issue brief provides an overview of the 2016 PDP marketplace, focusing on key changes from 2015, based on analysis of data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. It presents analysis of PDP availability,…

  • Medicare Advantage Enrollment Continues to Climb, but Financial Protections for Enrollees Are Eroding 

    News Release

    Enrollment in Medicare Advantage continues to climb steadily as spending reductions enacted in the Affordable Care Act reduce historical overpayments to the private plans, according to a new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. But limits on out-of-pocket spending for Medicare-covered services are rising, providing less protection for enrollees with relatively high health care expenses. Medicare Advantage enrollment grew in virtually all states and reached 16.8 million beneficiaries as of March 2015, an increase of…

  • Examining Medicare Part D Policies for Extended Supplies of Medication

    Issue Brief

    Medicare Part D plan sponsors, which provide drug coverage to 45 million older adults and people with disabilities, have the option to relax their ‘refill too soon’ restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of efforts to ensure adequate access to medications in disasters or emergencies. This analysis examines the share of Part D enrollees who currently have access to extended supplies of generic, brand-name, and specialty-tier drugs covered by their plan in…

  • Medicare Advantage 2015 Spotlight: Enrollment Market Update

    Issue Brief

    This Data Spotlight reviews national and state-level enrollment trends as of March 2015 and examines variation in enrollment by plan type and firm. It analyzes the most recent data on premiums, out-of-pocket limits, Part D cost-sharing for drugs, and plans’ quality ratings for Medicare Advantage enrollees.

  • Millions of Medicare Part D Enrollees Face Increases in Premiums and Other Costs in 2020 if They Do Not Switch Plans During Open Enrollment 

    News Release

    Millions of current enrollees in stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plans will face premium and other cost increases next year unless they switch to lower-cost plans during the open enrollment period that began Oct. 15 and ends on Dec. 7, a new KFF analysis finds. This includes two-thirds of Part D stand-alone drug plan enrollees not receiving low-income subsidies—nine million enrollees—who will face higher monthly premiums if they keep their current plan in 2020.…

  • A Small Share of People with Medicare Advantage or Stand-alone Medicare Part D Coverage Voluntarily Switch Plans During Open Enrollment 

    News Release

    A new KFF analysis finds that a relatively small share of people with Medicare Advantage or stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage voluntarily switch plans during Medicare’s open enrollment period, which runs annually from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. With less than a week remaining for beneficiaries to make their selections, shopping around among plans is important, since plans can vary significantly and change from year to year, which can have a large impact…

  • News Release

    KFF Research Shows that Medicare Open Enrollment TV Ads Are Dominated by Medicare Advantage Plans Featuring Celebrities, Active and Fit Seniors, and Promises of Savings and Extra Benefits Without Fundamental Plan Information

    News Release

    The annual blitz of ads for Medicare Advantage plans has become a rite of fall, as health insurers, brokers and other third parties seek to court enrollees for these private plans, which are offered to the 65 million people with Medicare during the program’s open enrollment season. In advance of the open enrollment period starting on October 15, KFF reviewed more than 1,200 unique television ads that aired more than 643,000 times last year to…