Medicare

As policymakers consider a range of approaches to providing prescription drug coverage to the Medicare population in today s tight budgetary environment, one proposal that has been put forth by the Bush Administration is that of a Medicare-endorsed prescription drug discount card program. This report describes the range of existing…

An Analysis of Reforming Medicare Through a 'Premium Support' ProgramThis report examines one of the leading approaches to reforming the Medicare program, known as premium support. Under this model, the current Medicare program would be replaced by a system of competing public and private health plans, and the federal government…

This report examines a Medicare-based approach to reducing the ranks of the uninsured that would permit early retirees between the ages of 62 and 65 to purchase coverage under Medicare. The paper begins with an overview of the challenges of insuring the near-elderly and explores the potential effects of a…

Medicaid’s Role for Low-Income Medicare BeneficiariesAn overview that identifies low-income Medicare beneficiaries (dual eligibles), how Medicaid can provide care for them, and the challenges to accessing care.Fact Sheet: Medicaid’s Role for Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries

Medicaid coverage substantially improves access to health care and lessens the financial burden of medical care for low-income seniors, but the program currently reaches only half of all poor Medicare beneficiaries. This report presents findings of focus groups with low-income seniors in an effort to understand barriers to enrollment for…

The debate over President Clinton’s national health care reform plan put health care policy at the forefront of the national agenda in 1993 and 1994. After the end of that debate, it remained to be seen whether or not health policy would hold the media’s and the public s interest…

The Medicare Chartbook includes data and background information critical to understanding the Medicare program and the challenges it faces in keeping up with the rising costs of health care and in ensuring the program s future financial security.

The Women’s Health Data Book: A Profile of Women’s Health in the United States, offers the latest data and trends on the wide range of health issues that affect women across their life spans. Published by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health, the Data Book…

This November 2001 Chartbook updates data from last year’s chartbook, including information about prescription drug coverage, expenditures and prices, utilization, drug promotion, and the pharmaceutical industry.

Tricia Neuman, Vice President and Director of the Medicare Policy Project testified before the House Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations on retiree health coverage for older Americans. The statement describes the health needs of aging adults and the importance of health insurance coverage at a time in their lives when they…