Medicare

NEW AND 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. u003cbru003eu003cbru003eExplore 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.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/faqs-on-medicare-financing-and-trust-fund-solvency/u0022 data-type=u0022linku0022 data-id=u0022https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/faqs-on-medicare-financing-and-trust-fund-solvency/u0022u003eRelated:u003ca href=u0022https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/faqs-on-medicare-financing-and-trust-fund-solvency/u0022u003e FAQs on Medicare Financing and Trust Fund Solvencyu003c/au003eu003c/au003e

Read More

Stay informed.

Stay informed.

Filter

381 - 390 of 1,601 Results

  • Medicare Beneficiaries Are Not Luddites

    From Drew Altman

    In a new column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman discusses new KFF survey data that shows that a surprising share of older adults with Medicare are using health tech regularly, and a solid majority support many of CMS’ goals to make it more widely available. But there are also big income gaps in the use of health tech, and concerns about AI, privacy, and other barriers to rapid and more widespread adoption. “Apparently… a…

  • Trump Administration Actions to Curb Data Collection Related to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI)

    Issue Brief

    This brief describes Trump Administration efforts to scale back or modify data collection on sexual orientation and gender identity variables in federal surveys. It specifically focuses on changes in three national surveys that are representative of these efforts: the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).

  • Medicare Advantage Insurers Made Nearly 53 Million Prior Authorization Determinations in 2024

    Issue Brief

    Nearly 53 million prior authorization requests were submitted to Medicare Advantage insurers on behalf of Medicare Advantage enrollees in 2024, of which 4.1 million (7.7%) were denied. Just 11.5% of denied requests were appealed, though 80.7% of appeals overturned the initial denial in Medicare Advantage. Substantially fewer prior authorization requests were made in traditional Medicare, reflecting the small number of services subject to prior authorization requirements.

  • KFF Health Tracking Poll May 2024: Voters’ Views of Health Policy Issues in Context of Presidential Campaigns

    Feature

    Voters are split largely along partisan lines in terms of who they trust in regard to various health care issues, but Biden captures more than Trump trust from Independent voters. Biden is also more trusted by older adults when it comes to entitlement programs. Voters are still largely unaware of the drug pricing provisions of the Inflation reduction Act. Large majorities of voters, particularly Democratic voters, support a federal right to abortion.

  • How Many Older Adults Live in Poverty?

    Issue Brief

    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.

  • Lowering the Age of Medicare Eligibility to 60 Could Reduce the Cost of Health Care and Have a Modest Effect on the Number of People Who Are Uninsured

    News Release

    A new KFF analysis shows that lowering the age of Medicare eligibility to 60 could improve the affordability of coverage for people who are already insured and expand coverage to over a million of the nation’s 30 million uninsured. Such a policy could provide a path to Medicare coverage for up to 11.7 million people with employer-based insurance and 2.4 million with private, non-group coverage who are ages 60 to 64, although it is unclear…

  • Supreme Court Decision Limiting the Authority of Federal Agencies Could Have Far-Reaching Impacts for Health Policy

    Issue Brief

    On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a longstanding legal precedent that required federal courts to defer to reasonable agency interpretation when statutes are ambiguous. The decision will shift many policy decisions from federal agencies to federal judges, with implications for health policy that will reverberate for years to come. This issue brief examines the decision and assesses what’s ahead.

  • What to Know About the FDA’s Recent Decision to Allow Florida to Import Prescription Drugs from Canada

    Policy Watch

    Florida’s plan to import certain prescription drugs from Canada represents the first time the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted authority for a state to safely import prescription drugs from another country. This policy watch analysis unpacks some frequently asked questions related to state of Florida’s importation plan, including potential obstacles to implementation, who will benefit from any savings, and what types of drugs will (and will not) qualify for importation.