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  • What’s the Latest on Medicare Drug Price Negotiations?

    Issue Brief

    In response to prescription drug spending growth and heightened attention to drug prices, some policymakers have proposed allowing the federal government to negotiate the price of prescription drugs for Medicare and private payers. This brief describes the current status of drug price negotiation proposals, looks back at the history of proposals to give the federal government the authority to negotiate drug prices in Medicare, describes the negotiation provisions in key legislation (H.R. 3), and discusses…

  • Millions of Medicare Part D Enrollees Have Had Out-of-Pocket Drug Costs High Enough to Exceed the Catastrophic Threshold Over Time

    News Release

    Nearly 3 million Medicare Part D enrollees had out-of-pocket drug spending above the catastrophic threshold in a recent five-year period, finds a new KFF analysis that takes a comprehensive look at how many people on Medicare have drug expenses high enough to push them above that limit. While the Part D drug benefit has helped make drugs more affordable for people with Medicare, the lack of a hard cap on annual out-of-pocket spending under Part…

  • Potential Savings for Medicare Part D Enrollees Under Proposals to Add a Hard Cap on Out-of-Pocket Spending

    Issue Brief

    Medicare Part D, the outpatient prescription drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries, provides coverage above a catastrophic threshold for high out-of-pocket drug costs, but there is no cap on total out-of-pocket drug costs that beneficiaries pay each year. Recent legislative proposals would add a cap on out-of-pocket spending under Part D. This analysis focuses on the potential impact of different out-of-pocket spending caps in terms of how many beneficiaries would be affected and how much they…

  • A Primer on Medicare: Key Facts About the Medicare Program and the People it Covers

    Report

    This primer explains key elements of the Medicare program, which now provides health coverage to 55 million people -- including 46 million people age 65 and older and another 9 million younger adults with permanent disabilities. It looks at the characteristics of the Medicare population, what benefits are covered, how much people with Medicare pay for their benefits and the program’s overall costs and future financing challenges.

  • Medicare’s Drug Benefit Is Firmly-Established After Its First Decade, With Flat Premiums in Recent Years but Higher Cost-Sharing Over Time 

    News Release

    With Medicare Part D nearing the end of its tenth year, the program -- which now provides drug coverage to 72 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries -- has experienced no growth in average premiums in recent years but some notable increases in cost-sharing, according to a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. At a time of heightened public concern about the cost of prescription drugs, the report, Medicare Part D at Ten Years: The…

  • Medicaid Reforms to Expand Coverage, Control Costs and Improve Care: Results from a 50-State Medicaid Budget Survey for State Fiscal Years 2015 and 2016

    Report

    This report provides an in depth examination of the changes taking place in state Medicaid programs across the country. The findings in this report are drawn from the 15th annual budget survey of Medicaid officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia conducted by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured and Health Management Associates (HMA), with the support of the National Association of Medicaid Directors. This report highlights policy changes implemented…

  • Medicare Drug Plan Enrollees Would Face Average 13 Percent Premium Increase Unless They Switch Plans During Open Enrollment, New Analysis Finds

    News Release

    Second Analysis Finds Modest Shifts in Medicare Advantage Plan Options When Medicare's 2016 open enrollment begins Oct. 15, current enrollees in stand-alone Medicare Part D plans are projected to face an average 13 percent increase in premiums if they remain in their current plan for 2016, a new analysis finds. Medicare Part D: A First Look at Plan Offerings in 2016 finds that for the coming year, the average beneficiary will have a choice of…

  • 2015 Employer Health Benefits Survey

    Report

    This annual Employer Health Benefits Survey (EHBS) provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, and other relevant information. The 2015 EHBS survey finds average family health premiums rose 4 percent in 2015, relatively modest growth by historical standards.

  • Why Consumer Issues Are Rising on the Health Agenda

    News Release

    In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman examines the trends that may be leading to a rise in consumer cost issues on the health agenda. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available online.

  • Medicare Part D at Ten Years: The 2015 Marketplace and Key Trends, 2006-2015

    Report

    Since 2006, Medicare beneficiaries have had access through Medicare Part D to prescription drug coverage offered by private plans, either stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) or Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans (MA-PD plans). Now in its tenth year, Part D has evolved due to changes in the private plan marketplace and the laws and regulations that govern the program. This report presents findings from an analysis of the Medicare Part D marketplace in 2015 and…