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  • Medicare Beneficiaries Spent an Average of $5,460 Out-of-Pocket for Health Care in 2016, With Some Groups Spending Substantially More 

    News Release

    The average person with traditional Medicare coverage paid $5,460 out of their own pocket for health care in 2016, according to a new KFF analysis and interactive tool. This $5,460 includes about $1,000 in out-of-pocket spending for long-term care facility services, averaged across all traditional Medicare beneficiaries.  Such services are used by only 5 percent of beneficiaries in traditional Medicare. For the 95 percent of beneficiaries living in the community, average out-of-pocket spending on health…

  • Medicare Part D Enrollees with Serious Health Conditions Can Face Thousands of Dollars in Out-of-Pocket Costs Annually for Specialty Drugs

    News Release

    Despite Medicare’s protections, Part D enrollees with serious health conditions can face thousands of dollars in annual out-of-pocket costs for expensive specialty drugs, a new KFF anaylsis finds. The analysis draws on data from Medicare’s Plan Finder website to calculate expected annual 2019 costs for more than two dozen specialty tier drugs used to treat four health conditions -- cancer, hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis – based on coverage and costs in national and…

  • Ongoing Impacts of the Pandemic on Medicaid Home & Community-Based Services (HCBS) Programs: Findings from a 50-State Survey

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief presents the latest findings on key state policy choices about Medicaid HCBS in 2022 based on the 20th KFF survey of state officials administering Medicaid HCBS programs in all 50 states and DC. The data were collected from April through September 2022. The survey was sent to each state official responsible for overseeing the administration of HCBS benefits (e.g., home health, personal care, and services for specific populations such as people with…

  • Most Nursing Home Staff and Residents Are Not Up to Date with Their COVID-19 Vaccines

    News Release

    As winter approaches, a new KFF analysis finds that less than half (45%) of all nursing facility residents and less than a quarter of staff (22%) are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations. That is a sharp drop from the 87 percent of nursing facility residents and staff who completed their primary vaccination series. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now defines being up to date as “having received a bivalent…

  • Millions of Medicare Part D Enrollees Have Had Out-of-Pocket Drug Spending Above the Catastrophic Threshold Over Time

    Issue Brief

    Medicare Part D, the outpatient prescription drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries, provides catastrophic coverage for high out-of-pocket drug costs, but there is no limit on the total amount that beneficiaries have to pay out of pocket each year. Policymakers on both sides of the aisle support proposals to modify the design of the Part D benefit and establish a hard cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug spending by Part D enrollees. This analysis shows the number…

  • 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

    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…

  • The Decline in COVID-19 Deaths Among Nursing Home Residents and Staff Reversed Course Amid the Surging Delta Variant This Summer

    News Release

    The months-long decline in COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents and staff reversed course this summer as the Delta variant dominated, with mortality increasing five-fold from 350 deaths in July to nearly 1,800 in August, finds a new KFF analysis. The analysis also finds increases in nursing home COVID-19 cases and deaths were steeper than those in the broader community between July and August. Nursing home deaths in August were the highest reported since February,…

  • Under the Radar: States Vary in Regulating and Reporting COVID-19 in Assisted Living Facilities

    Issue Brief

    This 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.

  • Medicaid and the Elderly – Policy Brief

    Issue Brief

    Medicaid and the Elderly September 1995 Medicaid is a crucial health financing program for the elderly population, providing assistance to over 1 in 10 Americans age 65 or older. Nearly four million elderly people receive Medicaid assistance with medical and long-term care expenses. Medicaid's coverage helps low-income elderly people gain access to health care services, eases financial burdens for medical expenses, and provides a safety net for long-term care coverage. Medicaid plays three essential roles…