View the Latest: Prescription Drugs
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Although a Small Share of Medicare Part D Enrollees Take Specialty Drugs, A New Analysis Finds Those Who Do Can Face Thousands of Dollars in Out-of-Pocket Drug Costs Despite Plan Limits on Catastrophic Expenses
News ReleaseSome Medicare Part D enrollees can expect to pay thousands of dollars out-of-pocket for a single specialty drug in 2016, even though Part D plans provide substantial protection against catastrophic costs, according to a new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
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Prescription Drugs’ Sizable Share of Health Spending
News ReleaseIn his latest column for The Wall Street Journal‘s Think Tank, Drew Altman explains why prescription drug spending may be a larger share of health spending than most people think, depending on how you look at it. All previous columns by Drew Altman are online.
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The Good and Bad of Those Ubiquitous Drug Ads
News ReleaseIn his latest column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman examines the public’s mixed views about prescription drug ads and their impact on prescribing patterns, based on a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available online.
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Medicare Part D Spending on Insulin Increased 840 Percent Between 2007 and 2017
News ReleaseMedicare Part D spending on insulin increased 840 percent between 2007 and 2017, far outpacing growth in the number of beneficiaries using insulin therapy, according to a new KFF analysis.
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Do People Who Sign Up for Medicare Advantage Plans Have Lower Medicare Spending?
Issue BriefThe analysis finds that people who switched from traditional Medicare to Medicare Advantage in 2016 had health spending in 2015 that was $1,253 less, on average, than the average spending for beneficiaries who remained in traditional Medicare (after adjusting for health risk). The findings suggest that the current payment method may systematically overestimate expected costs of Medicare Advantage enrollees. Adjusting payments to reflect Medicare Advantage enrollees’ prior use of health services could potentially lower total Medicare spending by billions of dollars over a decade.
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Medicare’s Share of Prescription Drug Spending Increased More Than 10 Percentage Points Since 2006
FeatureSource KFF analysis of CMS National Health Expenditure Data for Historical (CY2005-2017) and Projected (CY2018-2026) Retail Prescription Drug Expenditures.
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Joe Biden’s Big Lead on Health Care Issues
From Drew AltmanIn an Axios column, Drew Altman discusses how this election year health isn’t a single issue -- but several -- and Joe Biden has the edge over President Trump on all of them, even as opposition to the ACA remains popular with Trump’s base.
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JAMA Forum: Trump vs Biden on Health Care
PerspectiveIn this September 2020 post for The JAMA Health Forum, Larry Levitt highlights differences in the records and policy plans of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on key health care issues.
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Mail Delays Could Affect Mail-Order Prescriptions for Millions of Medicare Part D and Large Employer Plan Enrollees
Issue BriefPotential changes in mail service delivery could be a concern for people who receive prescription drugs from mail-order pharmacies. To understand who may be most affected by delays in the delivery of prescription drugs, we analyzed use of mail order in Medicare Part D and large group employer plans, and identified the therapeutic classes and specific drugs with the highest volume of fills by mail-order pharmacies in each market.