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A new KFF analysis finds that only 1% of those in low-income countries have received at least one vaccine dose compared to 51% in high-income countries, highlighting the substantial vaccine inequities around the world. The analysis examines these inequities by country income level and by region, finding large differences for…

In this Axios column, Drew Altman unpacks President Biden’s recent executive order on promoting competition, exploring its significance for new efforts to control health costs by addressing consolidation in the health care industry.

This analysis looks at global COVID-19 vaccination efforts by income-level and region to assess the equity gap in both vaccination coverage and rates of administration. Overall, we find that low-income countries and countries are lagging behind, and based on current rates, are unlikely to meet global vaccination targets.

This brief reviews initial 2022 premium rate filings for Marketplace-participating individual market insurers in 13 states and the District of Columbia. Most expect health utilization patterns to return to pre-pandemic levels and therefore not factoring in any impact on their 2022 premiums.

After a tumultuous year of unpredictable COVID-19 changes to utilization and spending, a review of early rate filings for individual market insurers participating in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace finds that most are expecting a return to normal in 2022 without the pandemic playing a large role. The review of…

Medicare Part D, the outpatient prescription drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries, provides catastrophic coverage for high out-of-pocket drug costs, but there is no limit on the total amount that beneficiaries have to pay out of pocket each year. Policymakers on both sides of the aisle support proposals to modify the design of the Part D benefit and establish a hard cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug spending by Part D enrollees. This analysis shows the number of Part D enrollees without low-income subsidies who have exceeded the catastrophic coverage threshold annually, and over multiple years, based on 2007-2019 Part D claims data.

A new report from KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) and The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) finds that donor government disbursements to combat HIV in low- and middle-income countries increased by US$377 million in 2020, reaching US$8.2 billion in 2020 compared to US$7.8 billion in 2019. Donor government funding…

States are currently developing plans to access an increased federal matching rate (“FMAP”) for Medicaid HCBS spending established in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. In the future, states may also be able to access increased HCBS funds proposed in the Biden Administration’s American Jobs Plan and the Better Care Better Jobs Act recently introduced in Congress. This brief highlights examples of Medicaid HCBS policy changes authorized through Section 1115 demonstration waivers in seven states (Arizona, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington). Where available, we discuss waiver evaluation findings and reports that assess the impact of these policy changes.

A new KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor report finds that people who were initially hesitant to get a vaccine in January but ultimately did so often say that family, friends and their personal doctors helped change their minds. The report features a second round of interviews with a nationally representative sample…

This report features a second round of interviews with a nationally representative sample of adults six months after they first shared their vaccine intentions in January to assess whether or not they got a COVID-19 vaccine, the reasons behind their choice, and how they feel about their decision.