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This issue brief examines how the Trump Administration proposals to lower drug costs described in the Administration's Blueprint affect Medicaid. These include proposals to change the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, as well as other approaches.
About two-thirds (65%) of voters say a candidate’s support for continued protections for people with pre-existing health conditions is either the “single most important factor” or “very important” to their vote in the upcoming midterms elections, finds the latest Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll. That’s a larger share than says the same about other health care issues, including bringing down prescription drug costs (58%), repealing the Affordable Care Act (53%), stabilizing the ACA marketplaces (52%), or…
Prescription drugs have become an integral part of medical practice - they help keep people healthy and save lives. But rising prescription drug costs have placed a growing burden on consumers, employers, and public programs. The issue of drug coverage for seniors under Medicare has moved to center stage in the Presidential election. This Public Opinion Update summarizes key findings from several surveys conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation in conjunction with other partners on…
This report, written by Marilyn Moon and Matthew Storeygard of the Urban Institute, estimates the potential cost of targeting drug benefits to low-income Medicare beneficiaries and those with catastrophic drug expenses and discusses some of the key programmatic issues that could arise under this approach. The authors predict that a targeted and comprehensive drug benefit would likely help more than half of the 11.3 million low-income beneficiaries who lack drug coverage through Medicaid or an…
These briefing charts provide background information on prescription drug use and spending among the Medicare population, recent survey data on employers' likely reaction to a Medicare drug benefit, an overview of the proposals for prescription drug coverage passed by the House and Senate at the end of June 2003, and a summary of the key issues to be resolved in the conference. Chart Pack
The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has been monitoring the development of the Pharmacy Plus waiver initiated by the Bush Administration in 2002 and tracking the states that have pending or approved plans. The Commission has developed some materials describing the initiative, examining the financing mechanism, and discussing the implications for the Medicaid program and participating states. The Pharmacy Plus initiative allows states to secure federal Medicaid matching funds for prescription programs for…
Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health National Survey of the Public's Views on Medicare A national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health examines the public's attitudes and opinions on issues related to the Medicare reform and prescription drug debate. The survey also takes a separate look at the differing views of younger and older Americans on this topic. Chartpack (.pdf)
This article, published online by Health Affairs on April 14, 2004, estimates the extent to which prescription drug discount cards could affect out-of-pocket spending by Medicare beneficiaries who lack drug coverage, based on an analysis of the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey. The Medicare discount card program is scheduled to go into effect in June of 2004. Health Affairs Article
A chartpack of selected findings of the March/April 2004 Kaiser Family Foundation Health Poll Report survey that underscores the need to educate seniors about the new Medicare prescription drug program. Survey Chartpack (.pdf)
This document includes the complete toplines from a survey of the public's attitudes regarding the health care agenda for Bush's second term and the new Congress in 2005. It assesses the relative priority placed on health-care concerns by the American public and also provides insight into public opinion on key issues likely to face the new Congress, such as implementing the Medicare drug law, controlling health care costs, reducing the nation’s uninsured population and reforming…
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