A Snapshot of Sources of Coverage Among Medicare Beneficiaries
This analysis documents the different sources of coverage among people with Medicare and examines variation in beneficiary characteristics by source of coverage.
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How Health Insurers and Brokers Are Marketing Medicare
ReportTo capture the state of television marketing activities and consider the implications for people with Medicare, KFF analyzed ad data compiled by the Wesleyan Media Project, that were obtained from Vivvix (formerly Kantar) CMAG, a data analytics and consulting firm, and were coded by the Wesleyan Media Project in collaboration with KFF. The data set included all English-language TV ads that aired across national and local markets on broadcast television or national cable, from October…
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Medigap Enrollment Among New Medicare Beneficiaries: How Many 65-Year Olds Enroll In Plans With First-Dollar Coverage?
Issue BriefOn March 26, 2015, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which would replace the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, among other changes; the bill is currently pending in the U.S. Senate. H.R. 2 includes a provision that would prohibit Medicare supplemental insurance (Medigap) policies from covering the Part B deductible for people who become eligible for Medicare on or after January 1, 2020. This data…
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5 Questions About the Idea of Default Enrollment into Medicare Advantage Plans
Issue BriefThis brief considers how default enrollment into Medicare Advantage might work, potential challenges with this approach, and implications for beneficiaries, insurers, providers, agents and brokers, and the federal budget.
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Modifying Traditional Medicare’s Benefit Design Could Reduce Federal Spending But With Cost Tradeoffs Between Beneficiaries and The Federal Government
News ReleaseRevamping traditional Medicare’s benefit design and restricting “first-dollar” supplemental coverage could reduce federal spending, simplify cost sharing, protect against high medical costs, decrease out-of-pocket spending for many beneficiaries, and provide more help to those with low incomes -- but would be unlikely to achieve all of these goals simultaneously.
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In All But Four States, Seniors on Medicare Can Be Denied a Medigap Policy Due to Pre-existing Conditions, Except During Specified Windows of Opportunity
News ReleaseIn all but four states, insurance companies can deny private Medigap insurance policies to seniors after their initial enrollment in Medicare because of a pre-existing medical condition, such as diabetes or heart disease, except under limited, qualifying circumstances, a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis finds. Medigap policies provide supplemental health insurance to help cover the deductibles and coinsurance for Medicare covered services. One in four people in traditional Medicare had a Medigap policy in 2015. This…
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Streamlining Cost Sharing in Medicare: The Impact on Beneficiaries
Event Date:EventThis July 22, 2013 briefing, Streamlining Cost Sharing in Medicare: The Impact on Beneficiaries, explored the impact on beneficiaries of recent proposals to combine the two main parts of Medicare.
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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 ReleaseThe 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…
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Medigap and the Medicare “Doc Fix”
News ReleaseThe House-passed legislation to repeal the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) includes a provision that would prohibit Medicare supplemental insurance (Medigap) policies from covering the Part B deductible for people who become eligible for Medicare beginning in 2020. A new Kaiser Family Foundation Data Note explores the implications of this proposal and finds that about 10 percent of 65-year olds on Medicare would have been affected in 2010 (the most recent year for which data…
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Policy Insight Examines a Key Barrier That Younger Medicare Beneficiaries with Disabilities Face in Getting Supplemental Insurance Coverage
News ReleaseIn a new policy insight, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Tricia Neuman and Juliette Cubanski examine a 1990 federal law that ensures that people age 65 and older are able to buy a Medigap policy when they sign up for Medicare, but denies younger Medicare beneficiaries with disabilities the same right unless they live in a state that requires it.