The Role of PBMs in Managing Drug Costs: Implications for a Medicare Drug Benefit
Extending a drug benefit to Medicare beneficiaries has been a highly publicized issue in recent months.
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Medicaid Beneficiaries Who Need Home and Community-Based Services: Supporting Independent Living and Community Integration
ReportThis report features nine seniors and people with disabilities living in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee, who rely on home and community-based services (HCBS). These profiles illustrate how beneficiaries’ finances, employment status, relationships, well-being, independence, and ability to interact with the communities in which they live---in addition to their health care---are affected by their Medicaid coverage and the essential role of HCBS in their daily lives.
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Under the Radar: States Vary in Regulating and Reporting COVID-19 in Assisted Living Facilities
Issue BriefThis analysis examines how states are regulating assisted living facilities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, based on state-issued guidance for assisted living facilities on visitation, staff screening, and use of personal protective equipment. In addition, we tally state-level data on COVID-19 cases and deaths in assisted living facilities among states reporting such data as of June 8, 2020.
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10 FAQs: Medicare’s Role in End-of-Life Care
Fact SheetAbout eight of 10 of the 2.6 million people who died in the US in 2014 were people on Medicare, making Medicare the largest insurer of health care provided during the last year of life. These Frequently Asked Questions explain Medicare’s role in or coverage of end-of-life care, advance care planning, advance directives, and hospice care. They also provide information on Medicare spending on end-of-life care, changes to the physician fee schedule, and how related issues arose prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
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Seniors and Income Inequality: How Things Get Worse With Age
From Drew AltmanIn this column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman discusses why seniors need to be included in the national discussion on income inequality, especially as proposals to change Medicare and Social Security are considered.
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How Lowering the Medicare Eligibility Age Might Affect Employer-Sponsored Insurance Costs
Issue BriefThis analysis for the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker illustrates the potential for employer savings if the age of Medicare eligibility were lowered to 60, as proposed by President Biden during the 2020 campaign.
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Medicare-Covered Older Adults Are Satisfied with Their Coverage, Have Similar Access to Care as Privately-Insured Adults Ages 50 to 64, And Fewer Report Cost-Related Problems
Issue BriefThis brief analyzes current experiences of Medicare beneficiaries ages 65 and older with respect to satisfaction and access measures and examines whether privately-insured adults ages 50 to 64 report access or cost problems at higher or lower rates than Medicare beneficiaries 65 and older.
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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
News ReleaseTwenty 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.
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COVID-19 Deaths Among Older Adults During the Delta Surge Were Higher in States with Lower Vaccination Rates
Policy WatchThis analysis looks at the relationship between vaccination rates and COVID-19 deaths for adults 65 and older since the Delta variant took hold, and finds that states with lower vaccination rates among adults ages 65 and older had higher death rates among older adults during this period.
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What’s the Latest on Medicare Drug Price Negotiations?
Issue BriefIn 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 the potential spending effects for the federal government, beneficiaries, and private payers.