Medicare Advantage Plans Denied 2 Million Prior Authorization Requests in 2021, About 6% of Such Requests February 2, 2023 News Release Medicare Advantage plans denied two million prior authorization requests for health care services in whole or in part in 2021, or about six percent of the 35 million requests submitted on behalf of enrollees that year, a new KFF analysis finds. Prior authorization is intended to ensure that health care…
The Public, Including Women of Childbearing Age, Are Largely Confused About the Legality of Medication Abortion and Emergency Contraceptives in Their States February 1, 2023 News Release More than six months since the Supreme Court issued their Dobbs decision which overturned Roe v. Wade, there is widespread public confusion about the medication abortion pill and whether it is legal at the state level, according to the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll. The poll also finds many are…
Two KFF Analyses Explore the Demographics of People Jointly Enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid As Well As Program Enrollment and Spending for This Population January 31, 2023 News Release The 12.5 million people who are jointly enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid include some of the poorest individuals in the U.S. with some of the highest health needs, requiring disproportionately high spending from both programs to support them. Two new KFF analyses examine the demographics of this population as well…
Rates of Long COVID in the U.S. Have Declined Since June of 2022 January 26, 2023 News Release The share of people who say they have had long COVID has declined since the summer, according to a new KFF analysis of self-reported data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among people who have ever had COVID, the share who say they currently or have ever had…
As States Prepare to “Unwind” the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Provision, Past Patterns Show That Most People Who Are Disenrolled from Medicaid Become Uninsured for All or Part of the Next 12 Months January 25, 2023 News Release Roughly two-thirds (65%) of people who were disenrolled from Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in a recent year became uninsured for all or part of the 12 months that followed, a new KFF analysis finds. The analysis of enrollment data from the 2016-2019 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey…
The Nation’s Largest For-Profit Health Systems Have Typically Had Operating Margins That Meet or Exceed Pre-Pandemic Levels December 5, 2022 News Release Despite higher inflation and dwindling COVID-19 relief funding from the federal government, the nation’s largest for-profit health systems so far this year have operating margins that meet or exceed levels in 2019 prior to the pandemic, a new KFF analysis finds. The analysis examines the financial performance of the three…
COVID-19 Vaccines Could Cost Billions of Dollars More Each Year If the Federal Government Ends Its Bulk Purchasing Program December 7, 2022 News Release If the federal government runs out of money to purchase COVID-19 vaccines, the per-dose price likely would skyrocket and could increase spending on vaccines by billions of dollars a year, a new KFF analysis finds. To date, the federal government has spent more than $30 billion on COVID-19 vaccines to…
The Small Share of Employers Offering Retiree Health Benefits Are Increasingly Turning to Medicare Advantage December 1, 2022 News Release Few employers offer retiree health benefits, and those that do increasingly are turning to Medicare Advantage plans to provide that coverage – a shift that has implications both for retirees and for federal spending, finds a new KFF analysis. Among the relatively small share of large firms (200 or more…
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 November 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…
The U.S.-Mexico Border Region Faced a Range of Health Challenges Long Before the Current Immigration Surge November 21, 2022 News Release With intense immigration activity at the U.S.-Mexico border this year and attention focused on the plight of newly arriving migrants, a new KFF analysis finds communities along the border faced an array of socioeconomic challenges and weak health infrastructures well before this year’s surge. Texas – which has the most…