Medicare

New & Noteworthy

What to Know About Medicare Coverage of Telehealth

Congress has repeatedly extended pandemic-era flexibilities around Medicare coverage of telehealth, but most such flexibilities remain temporary. This brief answers key questions about the current scope of Medicare telehealth coverage, including both temporary and permanent changes adopted through legislation and regulation, and future policy considerations.

Examining the Potential Impact of Medicare’s New WISeR Model

A federal initiative to establish new prior authorization requirements in traditional Medicare, called the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) model, is likely to have only modest impact in its first year.

State Profiles for Dual-Eligible Individuals

This data collection draws on Medicare and Medicaid administrative data to present national and state-level information on people who are covered by both Medicare and Medicaid, referred to as dual-eligible individuals (also known as dually-enrolled beneficiaries).

Data Visualization

The Facts About Medicare Spending

This interactive provides the facts on Medicare spending. Medicare, which serves 67 million people and accounts for 12 percent of the federal budget and 21 percent of national health spending, is often the focus of discussions about health expenditures, health care affordability and the sustainability of federal health programs.

Explore data on enrollment growth, Medicare spending trends overall and per person, growth in Medicare spending relative to private insurance, spending on benefits and Medicare Advantage, Part A trust fund solvency challenges, and growth in out-of-pocket spending by beneficiaries.

Related: FAQs on Medicare Financing and Trust Fund Solvency

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  • Pulling it Together: About Kaiser Health News

    Perspective

    There is lots of apocalyptic talk these days about the collapse of the newspaper industry and the challenges facing news organizations.  There is even talk of the unimaginable, my hometown paper The Boston Globe shutting down. Surely they know that Red Sox Nation cannot exist without the Globe Sports pages.

  • Visualizing Health Policy: The Public’s Health Care Agenda for 2013

    Other Post

    This month’s Visualizing Health Policy infographic looks at the US public’s priorities for health care in 2013, including actions by state governments, Medicaid expansion, Medicare spending, and spending for specific types of public health activities. See the full-size infographic at The Journal of the American Medical Association The original public opinion poll is available here.

  • Talking About Medicare: Your Guide to Understanding the Program, 2012

    Report

    Medicare is the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older and for some younger adults with permanent disabilities and medical conditions.  Prior to 1965, the year in which the Medicare program was established, about half of all seniors lacked health insurance.

  • Medicare Timeline

    Other Post

    In 1965, Medicare was created to provide health insurance for the nation's seniors beginning in 1966. Fifty years later, the program covers over 54 million people - primarily seniors but also others under age 65 with permanent disabilities. Medicare helps pay for a range of medical services, including hospital stays, physician visits, preventive benefits, and starting in 2006, prescription drugs. This timeline provides an overview of changes that have shaped the Medicare program over the past five decades.

  • Medicare-for-All vs. Single Payer: The Impact of Labels

    From Drew Altman

    In this column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, "Medicare-for-All vs. Single Payer: The Impact of Labels", Drew Altman uses new polling on a Medicare-for-all or single payer health system to explain how what you call a health reform plan can substantially affect the public's response.

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — February 2012

    Feature

    In the midst of continuing debate on the future of the Medicare program, the February Kaiser Family Foundation Tracking Poll finds most Americans and most seniors favor the status quo, though arguments about the program’s solvency have the potential to sway opinion toward new proposals.

  • Medicare Spending Briefs

    Other Post

    Data Spotlights Examine Financial Burden of Health Care on Medicare Beneficiaries With renewed attention to the nation’s long-term budget deficit and the national debt, proposed changes to Medicare and other federal entitlement programs could significantly affect health coverage and spending for millions of older and disabled Americans.

  • The President’s FY 2006 Budget Proposal:

    Report

    Overview and Briefing Charts This chartpack reviews the President’s FY 2006 budget request to Congress and highlights overall budget assumptions and funding for major health programs. It begins with a description of the federal budget process, followed by an overview of federal surplus/deficit spending patterns dating back to 1969.

  • Retiree Health Benefits Now and In the Future – Chartpack

    Report

    This chartpack (charts used at the briefing releasing this survey), from the survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Hewitt Associates between June and September 2003, provides detailed information on retiree health programs offered by large private-sector employers.