Filter

411-420 of 536 results

  • Revisiting ‘Skin in the Game’ Among Medicare Beneficiaries: An Updated Analysis of the Increasing Financial Burden of Health Care Spending From 1997 to 2005

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief presents an analysis of the financial burden of out-of-pocket health care spending for Medicare beneficiaries between 1997 and 2005. The analysis shows median out-of-pocket spending as a share of Medicare beneficiaries' income increased between 1997 and 2005, from 11.9 percent to 16.1 percent. For some beneficiaries, the spending burden was even greater, with 25 percent of people on Medicare spending nearly one-third or more of their income on health care.

  • Primers on Key Health Care Topics and Programs

    Issue Brief

    The Kaiser Family Foundation maintains a number of primers providing overviews of key health care programs and issues. Written by Foundation staff, each primer provides key data and information that helps illustrate the topic and its relevance for the nation's health care system. Medicaid: A Primer Medicare: A Primer The Uninsured: A Primer Health Care Costs: A Primer How Private Health Coverage Works: A Primer Mental Health Financing in the United States: A Primer The…

  • Medicare Part D 2009 Data Spotlight: The Coverage Gap

    Report

    This Medicare Part D data spotlight examines the coverage gap, or "doughnut hole," in Medicare drug plans available in 2009. While in the gap in coverage, Part D enrollees (other than those receiving low-income subsidies) are required to pay 100 percent of total drug costs until they reach the catastrophic coverage level. In 2009, nearly all Part D plans have a coverage gap, though one in four plans offer limited coverage in the gap --…

  • Medicare Part D 2009 Data Spotlight: Premiums

    Report

    This Medicare Part D data spotlight analyzes the premiums charged by the 1,689 stand-alone Medicare Part D plans that will be offered in markets across the country in 2009. The analysis finds premiums charged for Part D plans range widely, from $10.30 per month to $136.80 per month. If current enrollees remain in their current plan for next year, the weighted average monthly premium for PDPs would increase by $7.40 per month, from $29.89 in…

  • Medicare 2008 Benefits Table

    Report

    2008 Medicare Benefits Table Summary of Traditional Medicare, 2008 PART A Financing: 1.45% for both workers and employers No premiums* Benefits: Inpatient hospital - Days 1-60 - Days 61-90 - Days 91-150 - After 150 days Deductible of $1,024 per benefit period** No coinsurance $256 a day $512 a day No benefits Skilled nursing facility - Days 1-20 - Days 21-100 - After 100 days No coinsurance $128 a day No benefits Home health No…

  • The Burden of Out-of-Pocket Health Spending Among Older Versus Younger Adults: Analysis from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1998-2003

    Issue Brief

    UPDATED: An updated version of this analysis is now available online. Recent policy debate has focused on the issue of rising health care costs and whether it might be possible to control costs by requiring consumers to pay a larger share of their health care costs out of pocket. While most of the policy discussion has focused on people of working age, rising health care costs and the burden of out-of-pocket spending also affects seniors,…

  • Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Progress Report: Findings From A 2006 National Survey of Seniors

    Event Date:
    Event

    The share of seniors without drug coverage dropped significantly under Medicare’s new drug benefit, according to this August 2007 Health Affairs Web Exclusive article based on a Kaiser Family Foundation, Commonwealth Fund and Tufts-New England Medical Center survey of more than 16,000 seniors. Seniors with drug coverage from any source were less likely to face high monthly drug costs or to skip prescribed medications due to cost than seniors who remained without drug coverage. However,…

  • Voices of Beneficiaries: Medicare Part D Insights and Observations One Year Later

    Report

    This report describes the views and experiences of 35 Medicare beneficiaries under the new drug benefit in advance of the 2007 open enrollment period. The report finds that drug plan enrollees generally say that they are satisfied with their drug coverage and have not encountered major difficulties using their plan. At the same time, many of them don't fully understand how their plan works even after almost a year of experience with this new benefit.…

  • Health Affairs Article Examines Enrollment in Medicare Drug Plans As The Benefit Approaches Its Second Year

    Report

    Health Affairs Article Examines Enrollment in Medicare Drug Plans As The Benefit Approaches Its Second Year An article by Kaiser Family Foundation researchers published as a Health Affairs Web Exclusive provides a comprehensive look at the 2006 private Medicare drug plan enrollment as the enrollment period for 2007 begins. The article examines organization- and plan-level market share, as well as enrollment by type of plan, benefit design, and gap coverage. Health Affairs Web Exclusive (free…