How Much More Than Medicare Do Private Insurers Pay? A Review of the Literature
This brief reviews findings from recent studies that compare Medicare and private health insurance payment rates for both hospital and physician services.
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Health Issues and the Election Quiz
FeatureTest your knowledge about health facts, policy issues and proposals that are emerging among the 2020 presidential candidates. The 10 questions focus on health issues in the 2020 election, including: health care costs, prescription drug prices, the Affordable Care Act and changes in health insurance coverage, reproductive health, and Medicare-for-all and public option proposals.
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What to Know about Medicare Spending and Financing
Issue BriefThis brief provides an overview of Medicare spending and financing, based on the most recent historical and projected data from the Medicare Trustees and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The brief highlights trends in Medicare spending and key drivers of spending growth, including higher enrollment, growth in health care costs, and increases in payments to Medicare Advantage plans.
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Key Facts About Medicare Spending Trends and Projections from the 2026 Medicare Trustees Report
Issue BriefThis brief provides an overview of key trends in Medicare spending and spending growth, as well as the impact of these trends on out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries and Medicare program solvency, as projected by the Medicare Trustees in the 2026 Trustees Report.
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The Growth in Share of Medicare Advantage Spending
FeatureEarlier this week, the Biden Administration announced the final Medicare Advantage rates for 2023, which are projected to result in an average increase in Medicare Advantage plan revenue of 8.5% compared to 2022 - the highest average expected increase in recent years. Payments to Medicare Advantage plans as a share of total Medicare spending on Part A and Part B services have increased from 26% in 2010 to 45% in 2020, and are expected to…
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Selected Out-of-Pocket Costs as a Share of the Average Social Security Benefit
FeatureMedicare premiums and cost sharing will account for an increasing share of Social Security benefits in the future, Medicare Trustees project.
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UnitedHealthcare Has Largest and Fastest Growing Share of Medicare Advantage Enrollees Over Past Decade
FeatureWhile Medicare Advantage enrollment is highly concentrated among a small number of firms, UnitedHealthcare has seen the largest and fastest growing share of enrollees over the past decade. Learn more in this Chart of the Week.
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Restructuring Medicare’s Benefit Design: Implications for Beneficiaries and Spending
ReportSeveral deficit-reduction plans have proposed combining Medicare's separate deductibles for hospital and physician services, standardizing cost sharing across types of benefits, and establishing a new limit on annual out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries. A new Kaiser Family Foundation study examines the potential implications of proposals to revamp Medicare’s cost-sharing requirements as a way of reducing federal spending. The analysis projects what would happen if Medicare's current benefit design were replaced with a unified deductible of $550;…
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Transforming Medicare into a Premium Support System: Implications for Beneficiary Premiums
ReportThis study illustrates why geography would matter for Medicare beneficiaries under a premium support system that relies on a competitive bidding process envisioned under several key Medicare reform proposals. It examines potential changes in the premiums paid by Medicare beneficiaries under a payment approach that caps federal contributions per beneficiary based on the cost of the second lowest-bidding private plan or traditional Medicare, whichever is lower in their area. Under this approach, beneficiaries can choose…
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Adding an Out-of-Pocket Spending Maximum to Medicare: Implementation Issues and Challenges
Issue BriefIn an effort to simplify Medicare’s cost-sharing requirements, provide beneficiaries with catastrophic protection, and achieve program savings, some have proposed to restructure Medicare’s benefit design. Several recent proposals would create a unified deductible for Medicare Parts A and B, simplify cost-sharing requirements above the deductible, and add an annual limit on beneficiary out-of-pocket spending—a benefit feature typical of larger employer plans, but lacking in traditional Medicare. This issue brief describes the options for adding an…