Seniors - Research and Data from KFF

Medicaid Home & Community-Based Services: People Served and Spending During COVID-19

Mar 4, 2022

Issue Brief

This issue brief presents FY 2020 state-level data on the number of people receiving Medicaid HCBS and HCBS spending. This is the latest data available, and the first since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected in KFF’s 19th survey of state officials administering Medicaid HCBS programs in all 50 states and DC. A related brief presents the latest data and highlights themes in key state policy choices about optional HCBS.

The Gift of Experience vs. the Stress of Isolation: Older People Share How They’ve Made It Through the Pandemic

Event Date: Feb 23, 2022

Event

Older adults have suffered more illness and death from covid-19 than any other group. How are they faring as the pandemic enters its third year? KFF’s Kaiser Health News (KHN) and The John A. Hartford Foundation explored that question in depth in a 90-minute interactive web event on Feb. 23, 2022.

FAQs on Medicare Coverage and Costs Related to COVID-19 Testing and Treatment

Feb 3, 2022

Issue Brief

These FAQs provide the latest guidance on testing and treatment related to COVID-19 for Medicare beneficiaries, including questions related to out-of-pocket costs, the COVID-19 vaccine, telehealth, extended supplies of medication, skilled nursing facility stays, and issues for people in private Medicare Advantage plans.

Millions of Medicare Beneficiaries Use Prescription Drugs That Could Be Subject to Price Negotiation, But Build Back Better Act Provision Exempts Many Drugs With High Federal Spending

Jan 27, 2022

News Release

Twenty drugs and dozens of insulin products used by 8.5 million Medicare beneficiaries would be subject to government drug price negotiation if the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) were enacted and fully implemented in 2022, according to a new KFF analysis. The 20 drugs include 18 drugs available to beneficiaries covered under Medicare Part D (typically drugs purchased at the pharmacy) and two drugs covered under Medicare Part B (physician-administered drugs). The list includes drugs…

Simulating the Impact of the Drug Price Negotiation Proposal in the Build Back Better Act

Jan 27, 2022

Issue Brief

The Build Back Better Act (BBBA) includes a range of health and other proposals supported by President Biden, including a proposal to allow the federal government to negotiate the price of some prescription drugs covered under Medicare Part B (administered by physicians) and Medicare Part D (retail outpatient drugs). This brief illustrates the potential scope of the drug price negotiation proposal in the BBBA. This analysis is designed to highlight the types of Medicare-covered drugs…

Why Medicare’s Aduhelm Coverage Decision Could Increase Pressure on Officials to Roll Back the Record Part B Premium Increase for 2022

Jan 14, 2022

News Release

In a new Policy Watch, KFF experts explain why Medicare’s preliminary decision to cover a new Alzheimer’s drug only for a limited group of beneficiaries is likely to intensify pressure on officials to reconsider the increase in the Medicare Part B premium for 2022. Earlier this week, CMS issued a preliminary National Coverage Determination that would limit coverage of the new drug, Aduhelm, to beneficiaries with mild cognitive impairment who participate in approved clinical trials…

Monthly Part B Premiums and Annual Percentage Increases

Jan 12, 2022

Feature

The $21.60 increase in 2022 is the largest in dollar terms since the start of the program, even though premiums have risen faster in percentage terms on three other occasions in the last 20 years

Summary of Costs and Impact of the Prescription Drug Provisions in the Build Back Better Act

Nov 23, 2021

News Release

As the House-passed Build Back Better Act moves to the Senate, a new explainer from KFF summarizes the key prescription drug provisions within the broader budget reconciliation bill. These provisions would lower prescription drug costs paid by people with Medicare and private insurance and curb drug spending by the federal government and private payers. The Congressional Budget Office estimates federal budget savings from the drug pricing provisions would be $297 billion over 10 years. Although…

Explaining the Prescription Drug Provisions in the Build Back Better Act

Nov 23, 2021

Issue Brief

The Build Back Better Act includes several provisions that would lower prescription drug costs for people with Medicare and private insurance and reduce drug spending by the federal government and private payers. This brief summarizes these provisions and discusses the expected effects on people, program spending, and drug prices and innovation.

A Record 3,834 Medicare Advantage Plans Will be Available in 2022, Up 8 Percent From 2021, While the Number of Medicare Part D Stand-Alone Plans is Decreasing Mainly Due to Firm Consolidations

Nov 2, 2021

News Release

A record 3,834 Medicare Advantage plans will be available across the country as alternatives to traditional Medicare for 2022, a new KFF analysis finds. That’s an increase of 8 percent from 2021, and the largest number of plans available in more than a decade. At the same time, the number of Medicare Part D stand-alone prescription drug plans that will be offered in 2022 is decreasing by 23 percent to 766 plans, primarily the result…

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