Preventing Chronic Disease: The New Public Health June 10, 2011 Event There is a groundswell of activity in local communities to support healthier lifestyles and help people make long-lasting and sustainable changes that can reduce their risk for chronic diseases. A number of provisions in the health reform law are aimed directly at improving population health by addressing conditions where Americans…
Federal Core Requirements And State Options In Medicaid: Current Policies And Key Issues April 1, 2011 Fact Sheet Medicaid is a jointly financed partnership between the federal government and states. The federal-state financing and administrative structure of Medicaid provides a framework of federal core requirements along with broad state options for program design and administration. This issue brief presents an overview of the current Medicaid program framework, with…
Briefing – Medicare: A Primer March 11, 2011 Event This briefing provided an overview of the Medicare program and its role in the health care system. Panelists discussed who is eligible for Medicare, what benefits are covered and how the program is administered. Medicare financing and the program’s role in health reform was also explained. More information on Medicare…
Medicaid: A Primer on the Federal-State Partnership March 4, 2011 Event This briefing provided an overview of the Medicaid program and its role in the health care system. Panelists discussed who is eligible for Medicaid, what benefits are covered, how the program is administered. Medicaid financing and the program’s role in health reform was also explained. More information on Medicaid from…
Boomers Come of Age: Covering Early Retirees and Other 50-64 Year-Olds January 24, 2011 Event The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act contains provisions that can help workers age 50-64 if they lose their jobs and their employer-sponsored health benefits, such as incentives for employers to maintain retiree benefits. This briefing, cosponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform and AARP, answered many questions about provisions…
Explaining Health Reform: Benefits and Cost-Sharing for Adult Medicaid Beneficiaries August 9, 2010 Issue Brief This brief provides details of the benefit and cost-sharing rules that will govern the coverage available under health reform to these newly eligible adults Medicaid beneficiaries, and it identifies key considerations for state policymakers making Medicaid benefit design choices.
Medicare Part D 2010 Data Spotlight: Benefit Design and Cost Sharing November 30, 2009 Report The Medicare Modernization Act established a defined standard drug benefit for Part D stand-alone Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs) and Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MA-PD) plans, while giving plans flexibility to offer alternative benefit designs. Only about one in 10 PDPs offer the standard benefit in 2010. Plan sponsors can offer…
Workplace Wellness Programs, Healthy Behaviors and Health Reform November 29, 2009 Event Many large employers offer financial incentives to their employees to exercise regularly, improve their diets, lose weight and quit smoking. Health reform proposals would write some of these incentives into law. But some patient advocates say that, depending on how the incentives are structured, they can make coverage more expensive…
The Sleeper in Health Reform: Long-Term Care and the CLASS Act October 1, 2009 Event The Kaiser Family Foundation briefing examines a little-noticed but major provision in two leading health reform bills that would change the way that the U.S. pays for long-term care. The provision, known as the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, would establish a national voluntary insurance program that…
Medicare Prescription Drug Plans in 2009 and Key Changes Since 2006: Summary of Findings May 31, 2009 Issue Brief Since 2006, Medicare beneficiaries have had access to prescription drug coverage offered by private plans, either stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) or Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans (MA-PD plans). Today, more than 26 million Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare drug plans, including 17.5 million in stand-alone prescription drug plans…