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The unwinding of pandemic enrollment protections in Medicaid helped accelerate states’ expansion of eligibility for key groups and adoption of policy and system changes to streamline renewal processes for enrollees, according to findings from a new KFF survey of state Medicaid officials.
Eligibility policies for seniors and people with disabilities vary across states, but states made similarly wide-ranging changes to streamline renewal processes for these enrollees. KFF’s Survey of Medicaid Financial Eligibility & Enrollment Policies for Seniors & People with Disabilities was conducted in March 2024 by KFF and Watts Health Policy Consulting.
This brief describes the facts about actions taken under both the Trump and Biden Administrations related to capping insulin copayments for people with Medicare and explains the differences between their approaches.
This Health Policy 101 chapter explores Medicare, a federal health insurance program covering more than 66 million people, established in 1965 for people age 65 or older and later expanded to cover people under age 65 with long-term disabilities. In addition to detailing Medicare eligibility, coverage, and spending, the chapter examines the increased role of private plans in providing benefits and the financing challenges posed by increasing health care costs and an aging population.
To provide context for understanding the financial needs and well-being of older adults, this brief analyzes the latest data on poverty rates among the 58 million non-institutionalized adults ages 65 and older in the U.S overall, based on both the official poverty measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure.
In 45 states, fewer than half of nursing facilities currently meet all three staffing minimums required in the final federal rule that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released in April, and in 28 states, less than a quarter do, according to a new KFF analysis.
This analysis discusses the provisions of the final rule, including changes made by the Administration from the proposed rule, and examines the percentage and characteristics of nursing facilities that currently meet the minimum staffing requirements in the final rule, which takes effect beginning in May 2026 for some facilities.
This analysis highlights key findings about the health care experiences of older adults (ages 65 and older) based on KFF’s 2023 Survey on Racism, Discrimination, and Health, including variations by race and ethnicity.
In a new analysis, KFF finds that 3.6 million people with Medicare could be eligible for coverage of Wegovy (semaglutide) now that the Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of the anti-obesity drug to reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke in certain patients.
The FDA recently approved a new use for Wegovy, the blockbuster anti-obesity drug, to reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke in people with cardiovascular disease who are overweight or obese - a decision that opens the door to Medicare coverage of Wegovy, which is prohibited by law from covering drugs used for obesity. This brief analyses how many Medicare beneficiaries could be eligible for the new use of Wegovy and the potential impact on Medicare spending.
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