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Repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act is a top priority of the Trump Administration and the Republican leadership, which could have implications for the Medicare program. This brief provides a side-by-side comparison of the Medicare-related provisions in six bills and proposals that would repeal the ACA, excluding proposals that would not directly affect Medicare.
Medicare, the nation’s federal health insurance program for 57 million people age 65 and over and younger people with disabilities, often plays a major role in federal health policy and budget discussions. Medicare is likely to be back on the federal policy agenda as Congress debates repealing and replacing the ACA, and also if policymakers turn their attention to reducing entitlement spending as part of efforts to reduce the growing federal budget deficit and debt.…
Despite initial controversy and uncertainties, Medicare Part D now provides drug coverage to thirty-nine million beneficiaries through dozens of private plans in each region. Although firmly established, the program faces challenges, including projected spending growth. Enrollees also face challenges as plans adopt new strategies to control costs.
With Medicare Part D nearing the end of its tenth year, the program -- which now provides drug coverage to 72 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries -- has experienced no growth in average premiums in recent years but some notable increases in cost-sharing, according to a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. At a time of heightened public concern about the cost of prescription drugs, the report, Medicare Part D at Ten Years: The…
Second Analysis Finds Modest Shifts in Medicare Advantage Plan Options When Medicare's 2016 open enrollment begins Oct. 15, current enrollees in stand-alone Medicare Part D plans are projected to face an average 13 percent increase in premiums if they remain in their current plan for 2016, a new analysis finds. Medicare Part D: A First Look at Plan Offerings in 2016 finds that for the coming year, the average beneficiary will have a choice of…
Since 2006, Medicare beneficiaries have had access through Medicare Part D to prescription drug coverage offered by private plans, either stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) or Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans (MA-PD plans). Now in its tenth year, Part D has evolved due to changes in the private plan marketplace and the laws and regulations that govern the program. This report presents findings from an analysis of the Medicare Part D marketplace in 2015 and…
This Data Spotlight reviews national and state-level enrollment trends as of March 2016 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.
Current enrollees in stand-alone Medicare Part D plans are projected to face an average 9 percent increase in premiums if they remain in their current plan for 2017, according to an analysis released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation. During Medicare’s 2017 open enrollment period, which runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, Medicare beneficiaries in each state will have a choice of 22 stand-alone Part D drug plans (PDPs), on average. This is fewer…
This issue brief provides an overview of Medicare, the health insurance program for people ages 65 and over and younger people with long-term disabilities. The brief review the characteristics of people on Medicare, what Medicare covers, benefit gaps and supplemental coverage, beneficiaries' out-of-pocket health care spending, program spending and financing, payment and delivery system reform, and issues for the future of Medicare.
This analysis focuses on out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare Part D enrollees in 2016 for specialty, brand, and generic drugs. Part D drug plans differ considerably in the drugs they list on their formularies, their use of formulary tiers, and the level and structure of cost sharing applied to those tiers. Plan decisions affect different beneficiaries in different ways, depending on the drugs they use. The financial consequences for Part D plan enrollees can be…
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