This issue brief examines the recent boom in Medicare Advantage enrollment attributable to employers contracting with Private Fee-for-Service (PFFS) plans to cover their Medicare-eligible retirees. Between 2006 and 2008, the number of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage group plans nearly doubled from 900,000 to nearly 1.7 million as of…

The 2006 Kaiser/Hewitt survey of large businesses that provide retiree health benefits to their workers assesses their evolving responses to the new Medicare drug benefit in 2006. It also looks at the rising costs and changing benefits of retiree health coverage overall in 2006, as well as the outlook for…

This includes the full report on the 2006 Kaiser/Hewitt survey of large businesses that provide retiree health benefits to their workers. The Kaiser/Hewitt study, the fifth joint survey since 2002, analyzes responses from a non-probability sample of 302 businesses with 1,000 or more employees that offer retiree health benefits. These…

Health BenefitsThis document presents key data from the 2006 Kaiser/Hewitt Survey on Retiree Health Benefits.Chartpack (.pdf)

This Kaiser survey report looks at how the bankruptcies of two steel companies, the LTV Corporation and Bethlehem Steel, affected health coverage for the companies' retirees and dependents. The bankruptcies left about 200,000 retirees and spouses without retiree health coverage in 2002 and 2003. The report provides insight into the…

Tracking Prescription Drug Coverage Under Medicare: Five Ways to Look at the New Enrollment NumbersThis new analysis, which assesses Medicare drug benefit enrollment statistics released Feb. 22 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, examines five different approaches to understanding the Medicare drug coverage numbers:What share of the…

Findings from the Kaiser/Hewitt 2005 Survey on Retiree Health BenefitsThe 2005 Kaiser/Hewitt survey of large businesses that provide retiree health benefits to their workers assesses their responses to the new Medicare drug benefit in 2006, their plans for the future, and the way these changes affect retirees. It also looks…

Prospects for Retiree Health Benefits as Medicare Drug Coverage Begins:Findings from the Kaiser/Hewitt 2005 Survey on Retiree Health Benefits – ChartpackThis chartpack presents key data from the 2005 Kaiser/Hewitt survey of large businesses that provide retiree health benefits to their workers.Chartpack (.pdf)

Prospects for Retiree Health Benefits as Medicare Drug Coverage Begins:Findings from the Kaiser/Hewitt 2005 Survey on Retiree Health Benefits – ReportThis report assesses how large businesses that provide retiree health benefits to their workers are responding to the new Medicare drug benefit in 2006, their plans for the future, and…

An estimated 200,000 Medicare beneficiaries were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Medicare played a key role in meeting the health care needs of the elderly and disabled beneficiaries who were displaced by the hurricane. Many of these beneficiaries face new challenges as a direct result of the hurricane. This issue brief…