Federal Policies Affecting The Cost and Availability of New Pharmaceuticals June 30, 2002 Report This report by Michael Gluck of the Georgetown University Institute for Health Care Research and Policy examines several ways in which the federal government influences the availability and cost of prescription drugs, including 1) intellectual property protection the laws and policies which regulate and influence patents and generic competition (include…
Medicare Part D 2010 Data Spotlight: Premiums November 30, 2009 Report Medicare Part D helps cover the cost of outpatient prescription drugs for 27 million beneficiaries enrolled in private stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) and Medicare Advantage prescription drug (MA-PD) plans. The majority of Part D enrollees pay a monthly premium for Medicare drug coverage. This data spotlight examines premiums for…
Medicare Part D 2010 Data Spotlight: The Coverage Gap October 30, 2009 Report This data spotlight examines the coverage gap, or “doughnut hole,” in Medicare stand-alone drug plans available in 2010. While in the gap in coverage, Part D enrollees (other than those receiving low-income subsidies) are required to pay 100 percent of total drug costs until they reach the catastrophic coverage level.…
Medicare Part D 2009 Data Spotlight: Specialty Tiers May 31, 2009 Issue Brief Most Medicare Part D prescription drug plans use tiers with different cost-sharing amounts for generic, preferred, and non-preferred drugs, and also include an additional “specialty” tier for very high cost and unique drugs. This 2009 Part D Data Spotlight examines use of the specialty tier, including the numbers and kinds…
The Obama Administration’s 2010 Call Letter for Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plans: Implications for Beneficiaries April 29, 2009 Issue Brief On March 30, 2009, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued the 2010 “call letter,” which functions as a request for proposals to private health insurers and organizations that want to sponsor Medicare Advantage Plans or Medicare Prescription Drug Plans. This issue brief reviews the call letter — the first issued…
Key Findings: Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008 – June 2008 June 24, 2008 Poll Finding This document contains the key findings from the June Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008 poll. The poll involved a nationally representative random sample of 1,206 adults (including 1,066 who say they were registered to vote), who were interviewed by telephone between June 3 and 8, 2008. The margin of…
NPR/Kaiser/Harvard Survey – Children’s OTC Cold Medicines: The Public, and Parents, Weigh In: Summary and Chartpack November 30, 2007 Poll Finding This summary and chartpack provides an overview of the results of a November 2007 survey conducted jointly by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health on the public’s views of over-the-counter children’s cold and cough medications in the wake of recent concerns regarding their safety…
Overview of Medicare Part D Organizations, Plans and Benefits By Enrollment in 2006 and 2007 October 30, 2007 Report This chartpack provides detailed information about Medicare beneficiaries’ enrollment in the many private drug plans available to them in 2007. The charts demonstrate that a relatively small number of companies which captured the most enrollees in 2006, the new benefit’s first year, continued to lead in market share in the…
Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Progress Report: Findings From A 2006 National Survey of Seniors August 1, 2007 Event The share of seniors without drug coverage dropped significantly under Medicare’s new drug benefit, according to this August 2007 Health Affairs Web Exclusive article based on a Kaiser Family Foundation, Commonwealth Fund and Tufts-New England Medical Center survey of more than 16,000 seniors. Seniors with drug coverage from any source…
The Role of State Pharmaceutical Assistance Programs in Serving Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries Following the Implementation of Medicare Part D July 2, 2007 Issue Brief The Role of State Pharmaceutical Assistance Programs in Serving Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries Following the Implementation of Medicare Part DPrior to January 1, 2006, State Pharmaceutical Assistance Programs helped to fill a critical gap in coverage for Medicare beneficiaries without prescription drug coverage, targeting resources to beneficiaries with relatively low incomes.…