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  • Medicare Part D Beneficiaries Who Reach the Catastrophic Coverage Limit Can Expect to Pay More Out-of-Pocket for Their Prescription Drugs Next Year

    News Release

    Medicare Part D enrollees with relatively high out-of-pocket expenses can expect see their costs rise in 2020, according to a new KFF analysis. This is mainly due to an increase in how much enrollees will pay out of pocket for their prescription drugs in the Part D benefit coverage gap phase before they qualify for catastrophic coverage. The analysis finds that out-of-pocket drug costs will increase by nearly $400 -- from $2,275 in 2019 to…

  • List Prices Increased As Much As 9 Times Faster Than Inflation for 20 of the Top 25 Part D Drugs, Suggesting Potential for Savings Under Proposed Inflation Rebate Policies

    News Release

    A new KFF analysis finds that the list prices for most of the top Medicare Part D drugs by total spending increased as much as nine times the rate of inflation (1.7%) between 2016 and 2017, suggesting recent Congressional proposals targeting such increases could generate savings for Medicare and Part D enrollees. The analysis finds 20 of the top 25 drugs, all of which were brand-name medications, had price increases between three and more than…

  • Prescription Drug Procurement and the Federal Budget

    Issue Brief

    This brief commissioned by the Foundation considers areas where Medicare faces limited opportunity for market-based competition and price negotiation to drive down drug spending. These areas include drug purchasing for low-income people enrolled in Part D plans who face minimal cost-sharing requirements, and purchasing certain unique drugs, such as biologicals, that have no therapeutic alternatives or competitors. Authored by Richard G. Frank of Harvard University, the brief discusses policy options that could lower Medicare spending…

  • Survey of People with Disabilities

    Poll Finding

    People with disabilities are at risk in the health-care system because of their wide-ranging health-care needs, their relatively heavy use of prescription drugs, health-care and support services, and typically low incomes. A new survey of people with permanent mental and/or physical disabilities explores their health-care experiences and challenges in accessing and paying for care. This chartpack contains the briefing materials from the event held to release the survey. Chart Pack (.pdf)

  • Consumer Protection Issues Raised by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003

    Report

    This paper identifies and examines consumer protection issues that arise from the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. Key issue areas include: beneficiary information, marketing, enrollment and disenrollment, the drug benefit package and cost-sharing, the appeals process, concerns for low-income beneficiaries, challenges for nursing home issues, and fraud and abuse. Report (.pdf)

  • Implications of the New Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit for State Medicaid Budgets

    Issue Brief

    For a number of years, Governors and other state policymakers have maintained that Medicare - rather than state Medicaid programs - should play the key role in providing prescription drug coverage to Medicare beneficiaries, including those who also qualify for Medicaid because they are impoverished and/or have extensive health care needs (i.e, the "dual eligibles"). Although the new Medicare prescription drug benefit law shifts drug coverage for dual eligibles from Medicaid to Medicare, it does…

  • A Primer on Medicare Financing

    Issue Brief

    As Congress and the Administration increasingly focus on the nation’s budget deficit, many policy experts and several bipartisan deficit reduction panels have proposed significant changes to Medicare to reduce federal spending and address rising health care costs. This primer provides an overview of Medicare spending trends, how the program is financed, and factors contributing to the growth in Medicare spending. Medicare now covers 47 million seniors and younger people with disabilities, with total expenditures of…

  • Views of the New Medicare Drug Law – Chartpack By Income Group

    Report

    This comprehensive survey of people on Medicare, conducted in June and July 2004, assesses their attitudes toward the new Medicare drug law. This chartpack, issued in September 2004, presents additional analysis on the survey data, looking at key findings broken down by income group. Chartpack (.pdf)

  • Prescription Drug Spending Under The MMA: Modeling The Impact On Out-of-Pocket Costs

    Event Date:
    Event

    This report projects the impact of the new Medicare drug benefit on out-of-pocket spending for people who enroll in 2006. The analysis is based on a model developed by the Actuarial Research Corporation for the Kaiser Family Foundation. The model generally conforms to the Congressional Budget Office’s assumptions and projections about Medicare drug benefit spending and participation rates for the new benefit and for the low-income subsidy. The report was released at a briefing in…