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A new comprehensive Kaiser Family Foundation report analyzes key trends that have shaped the Medicare Part D marketplace since the program launched nine years ago, providing a detailed assessment of changes in plan availability, enrollment, premiums and cost sharing in both private stand-alone drug plans, and Medicare Advantage drug plans.
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…
Medicare is likely to be back on the federal policy agenda this year as Congress and President Trump pursue repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, and potentially consider options to reduce federal spending. When talking about Medicare, the nation’s federal health insurance program for 57 million people age 65 and over and younger people with disabilities, some policymakers often express concern that the program will soon be “bankrupt” and that rising spending is unsustainable.…
For the first time, 1 in every 3 people with Medicare is enrolled in Medicare Advantage, the private Medicare plans that have played an increasingly large role in the Medicare program over the past decade, according to a new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Medicare Advantage enrollment has more than tripled since 2004, reaching 19 million, or 33 percent of enrollees, in 2017, the analysis shows. That milestone is up from 17.6 million beneficiaries…
This Kaiser Family Foundation study examines how the coverage gap in Medicare’s drug benefit known as the “doughnut hole” affects Medicare beneficiaries and their prescribing patterns. Based on actual claims data from 2008 and 2009, before the 2010 health reform law began to close the gap, the study finds that most Part D enrollees with high drug costs who fall in the gap one year are likely to do so in future years. Enrollees who…
This Medicare Part D data spotlight examines the benefit design of Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans (PDP) in 2008, focusing on national plans. It shows that in 2008, as in previous years, only about 10 percent of national prescription drug plans offered the defined standard benefit. The spotlight also looks at cost sharing structures, the use of flat dollar copayments, the upward trend in cost sharing for non-preferred drugs, and recent changes in cost…
Key Implementation Dates for the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit This timeline presents important dates and deadlines of key implementation activities related to the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA). It runs from the beginning of 2005 through the end of 2006, the first year of the new Medicare drug benefit. Some of these dates are defined in the MMA statute, while others are from the final rule issued by the Centers…
The Medicare Modernization Act established a defined standard drug benefit for Part D stand-alone Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs) and Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MA-PD) plans, while giving plans flexibility to offer alternative benefit designs. Only about one in 10 PDPs offer the standard benefit in 2010. Plan sponsors can offer alternative benefit designs that are, at a minimum, actuarially equivalent to the defined standard and can also offer enhanced benefits. This Medicare Part D data…
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.
Medicare and the President's Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Proposal This fact sheet summarizes key Medicare-related provisions in the Bush Administration's fiscal year 2009 budget proposal, as well as additional legislation that responds to the Medicare Trustees' "Medicare Funding Warning." Fact Sheet (.pdf)
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