Seniors - Research and Data from KFF

Financial Performance of Medicare Advantage, Individual, and Group Health Insurance Markets

Aug 5, 2019

Issue Brief

Three key private health insurance markets -- Medicare Advantage, the individual market and the fully-insured group market -- appear to be financially healthy and attractive to insurers. The private Medicare Advantage market generates significantly larger gross margins per person than the individual market or fully-insured market. The future of these markets has become a focus for policymakers amid the debate over Medicare for All.

Data Note: Prescription Drugs and Older Adults

Aug 9, 2019

Issue Brief

This data note explores the attitudes and experiences of older adults, ages 65 and up, when it comes to prescription drugs and related policy proposals being discussed. Experiences across different demographic groups are explored, such as household income and health status.

How Many Medicare Part D Enrollees Had High Out-of-Pocket Drug Costs in 2017?

Jun 21, 2019

Issue Brief

The Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit has helped improve the affordability of medications for people with Medicare. Yet Part D enrollees can face relatively high out-of-pocket costs because the Part D benefit does not have a hard cap on out-of-pocket spending. This analysis presents the latest data on out-of-pocket drug spending among Medicare Part D enrollees without low-income subsidies who have costs above the catastrophic coverage threshold.

Poll: Nearly 1 in 4 Americans Taking Prescription Drugs Say It’s Difficult to Afford Their Medicines, including Larger Shares Among Those with Health Issues, with Low Incomes and Nearing Medicare Age

Mar 1, 2019

News Release

As the Trump Administration and Congress weigh policy options to address high prescription drug prices, a fourth of people taking prescription drugs (24%) and seniors taking drugs (23%) say it is difficult for them to afford their medications, the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll finds. The groups most likely to report difficulties affording their medications include people with monthly drug costs of $100 or more (58%), in fair or poor health (49%), with annual incomes less than $40,000 (35%),…

Above Federal Subsidy Threshold, Older Adults Spend Much More Income on ACA Coverage

Mar 8, 2019

Feature

For incomes too high to qualify for federal subsidies, 60-year-old adults spend significantly more of their income on the lowest premiums for ACA-compliant coverage.

Medicaid Public Health Emergency Unwinding Policies Affecting Seniors & People with Disabilities: Findings from a 50-State Survey

Jul 11, 2022

Issue Brief

This issue brief describes anticipated enrollment changes in pathways based on old age or disability (“non-MAGI”) after the PHE ends, state enrollment and renewal policies for non-MAGI groups as of January 1, 2022, and state plans for resuming normal operations when the PHE ends.

How Would the Prescription Drug Provisions in the Senate Reconciliation Proposal Affect Medicare Beneficiaries?

Jul 27, 2022

Issue Brief

The brief provides a quick explainer of the prescription drug provisions in legislative text released by the Senate Finance Committee to be included in a forthcoming reconciliation bill and presents new estimates on how many Medicare beneficiaries could be helped by those provisions.

The Average Medicare Beneficiary Has a Choice of 43 Medicare Advantage Plans and 24 Part D Stand-Alone Plans for Coverage in 2023

Nov 10, 2022

News Release

For 2023, the typical beneficiary has a choice of 43 Medicare Advantage plans as an alternative to traditional Medicare, a new KFF analysis finds. That’s an increase of 5 plans on average from 2022, adding even more choices to the Medicare Advantage marketplace, which is poised to become the dominant way Medicare beneficiaries get their health coverage and care. In addition, the typical beneficiary has a choice of 24 Medicare Part D stand-alone prescription drug…

More Than Half a Million People in the U.S. Are On Waiting Lists for Medicaid Home- and Community-Based Services, But Waiting Lists Can Both Overstate and Understate Unmet Need

Nov 28, 2022

News Release

About 656,000 people across the country were on state waiting lists for home and community-based services financed through Medicaid waivers in 2021, finds a new KFF analysis. But such waiting lists are an incomplete and often inaccurate measure that can both overstate and understate unmet need. The data about waiting lists are among the latest findings from the 20th KFF survey of state officials administering Medicaid HCBS programs in all 50 states and Washington DC.…

The End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: Details on Health Coverage and Access

Feb 3, 2023

Policy Watch

This post provides an overview of how health care coverage and access will and won’t change when the public health emergency ends on May 11, including a discussion of COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatments, and telemedicine.

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