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  • The Average Medicare Beneficiary Has a Choice of 43 Medicare Advantage Plans and 24 Part D Stand-Alone Plans for Coverage in 2023

    News Release

    For 2023, the typical beneficiary has a choice of 43 Medicare Advantage plans as an alternative to traditional Medicare, a new KFF analysis finds. That’s an increase of 5 plans on average from 2022, adding even more choices to the Medicare Advantage marketplace, which is poised to become the dominant way Medicare beneficiaries get their health coverage and care. In addition, the typical beneficiary has a choice of 24 Medicare Part D stand-alone prescription drug…

  • Prescriptions to Treat Opioid Overdoses and Opioid Use Disorder Among Medicaid Enrollees Rose Sharply in the Years Leading Up to the Pandemic

    News Release

    State Medicaid programs saw a doubling of prescriptions for medications used to treat Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) or rapidly reverse opioid overdoses from 2016 to 2019, finds a new KFF analysis. KFF analysts studied the latest available Medicaid claims data -- detailed and comprehensive administrative data that can help answer questions and inform policy -- and found that the share of enrollees who received at least one medication used to treat OUD or reverse opioid…

  • Medicare Advantage Plan Switching: Exception or Norm?

    Issue Brief

    The Medicare open enrollment period allows enrollees to compare plans, stick with their current plan, switch to another plan, or shift to traditional Medicare. This analysis examines the extent to which Medicare Advantage enrollees change plans when given the opportunity. It also analyzes the variation in the rate of plan switching by enrollee and plan characteristics and whether people who voluntarily switch plans tend to move to plans with lower premiums, lower out-of-pocket limits, or…

  • 3 Charts: Medicare Drug Price Negotiations

    News Release

    Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the federal government for the first time will negotiate directly with drug companies to determine the prices that Medicare will pay for certain high expenditure drugs covered under Medicare Part D (starting in 2026) and Part B (starting in 2028). Part D covers retail prescription drugs and Part B covers physician-administered medications. This new requirement is the culmination of years of debate among lawmakers in Congress, and the Centers for…

  • 3 Charts: Drug Prices in the United States

    News Release

    This post was updated to clarify that less than 10% of the nation's total health spending is spent on retail prescription drugs and does not include spending on drugs administrated by physicians or in hospitals.Prescription drug costs are a top concern for the American public. While retail prescription drugs represent less than 10% of total U.S. health spending and are not the primary driver of the nation’s high health costs, Americans often pay more for…

  • KFF Tracking Poll July 2023: Substance Use Crisis And Accessing Treatment

    Poll Finding

    In the midst of an opioid epidemic in the United States, two-thirds of adults say either they or a family member have been impacted by drug or alcohol addiction. Three in ten say they or their family were addicted to prescription or illegal opioids. This survey explores treatments received by those who battled addiction, impacts of addiction, and support for policies aimed at reducing drug overdoses.

  • KFF News Release

    What is the Potential Impact of New Drugs for Obesity and Alzheimer’s Disease on Medicare Costs, Coverage and Beneficiaries? 

    News Release

    Two new KFF analyses examine the potential impact of Medicare coverage of new prescription drugs for obesity and Alzheimer’s disease on program spending and beneficiary out-of-pocket costs, as well as the role that the Inflation Reduction Act could play in mitigating these effects. Manufacturers of both types of drugs are lobbying for broad Medicare coverage of them, though they face different challenges. The availability of effective weight-loss drugs, including Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy (semaglutide)…