Key Facts About Medicare Part D Enrollment, Premiums, and Cost Sharing in 2021 June 8, 2021 Issue Brief The Medicare Part D program provides an outpatient prescription drug benefit to older adults and people with long-term disabilities in Medicare who enroll in private plans, including stand-alone drug plans and Medicare Advantage drug plans. This analysis provides the latest data about Part D enrollment, premiums, and cost sharing in 2021 and trends over time.
Expanding Medicare to Adults at Age 60 Years—Medicare-for-More? May 27, 2021 Perspective In this column for the JAMA Health Forum, Larry Levitt examines the implications of lowering Medicare’s age of eligibility, which is emerging as a potential pathway toward Medicare-for-all or a public option among single-payer advocates. He explores the implications for costs, industry, people and broader reform efforts.
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 May 21, 2021 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…
Coverage Implications of Policies to Lower the Age of Medicare Eligibility May 21, 2021 Issue Brief This data note looks at the coverage implications of policies to lower the age of Medicare eligibility as proposed by President Biden during the presidential campaign.
More Than 1 in 4 Medicare Beneficiaries Had a Telehealth Visit Between the Summer and Fall of 2020 May 19, 2021 News Release As the coronavirus pandemic kept people home last year, just over 1 in 4 Medicare beneficiaries had a telehealth visit with a doctor or other health professional between the summer and fall of 2020, a new KFF analysis finds. Once limited to beneficiaries living in rural areas, coverage of telehealth…
Medicare and Telehealth: Coverage and Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Options for the Future May 19, 2021 Issue Brief This brief provides an overview of changes in coverage of telehealth under traditional Medicare before the coronavirus pandemic, and estimates changes in use of telehealth services using survey data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) during the pandemic. The analysis also discusses issues and questions related to extending telehealth coverage under traditional Medicare beyond the public health emergency.
Medicare-Covered Older Adults Are Satisfied with Their Coverage, Have Similar Access to Care as Privately-Insured Adults Ages 50 to 64, And Fewer Report Cost-Related Problems May 17, 2021 Issue Brief This brief analyzes current experiences of Medicare beneficiaries ages 65 and older with respect to satisfaction and access measures and examines whether privately-insured adults ages 50 to 64 report access or cost problems at higher or lower rates than Medicare beneficiaries 65 and older.
Vaccination Rates Are Relatively High for Older Adults, But Lag in Counties in the South, in Counties with Higher Poverty Rates and in Counties that Voted for Trump May 13, 2021 Issue Brief This analysis uses CDC data to look at vaccination rates for adults 65 and older. The findings show that vaccination rates vary by county and that adults ages 65 and older are less likely to be fully vaccinated in counties in the South, in counties where a higher share of older adults live in poverty, and in counties that voted for Trump.
Analysis Suggests Health Insurers Remained Profitable Across Markets Amid Pandemic in 2020 May 3, 2021 News Release A new analysis of health insurers’ financial data suggests that they remained profitable across markets in 2020 due in part to an unprecedented decrease in health spending and utilization in the spring as the COVID-19 pandemic led to massive shutdowns.
Lowering the Age of Medicare Eligibility Would Likely Reduce Health Spending for Employers, But Raise Costs for the Federal Government by Covering More People in Medicare April 27, 2021 News Release Two new KFF analyses find that lowering the age of Medicare eligibility from 65 to 60 could significantly reduce health spending for employers, who could potentially pass savings to employees in the form of lower premiums or higher wages. Additionally, per person health spending for older adults who move from…