The Emerging Role of Group Medicare Private Fee-for-Service Plans November 29, 2008 Issue Brief This issue brief examines the recent boom in Medicare Advantage enrollment attributable to employers contracting with Private Fee-for-Service (PFFS) plans to cover their Medicare-eligible retirees. Between 2006 and 2008, the number of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage group plans nearly doubled from 900,000 to nearly 1.7 million as of…
President Obama’s Campaign Position on Health Reform and Other Health Care Issues November 1, 2008 Issue Brief During the 2008 Presidential campaign now President Barack Obama announced a comprehensive health care reform proposal and laid out his positions on a number of other key health care issues. The two documents below summarize these campaign policies and positions. They were prepared by the Kaiser Family Foundation with the…
Medicare Part D 2009 Data Spotlight: The Coverage Gap October 30, 2008 Report This Medicare Part D data spotlight examines the coverage gap, or “doughnut hole,” in Medicare drug plans available in 2009. While in the gap in coverage, Part D enrollees (other than those receiving low-income subsidies) are required to pay 100 percent of total drug costs until they reach the catastrophic…
Medicare Part D 2009 Data Spotlight: Low-Income Subsidy Plan Availability October 30, 2008 Issue Brief This Medicare Part D Data Spotlight focuses on the availability of drug plans for beneficiaries receiving the Part D low-income subsidy in 2009 and changes since 2006. For 2009, fewer than one in five plans qualify for automatic or facilitated enrollment of low-income subsidy beneficiaries, the lowest share since the…
Medicare Part D 2009 Data Spotlight: Premiums October 30, 2008 Report This Medicare Part D data spotlight analyzes the premiums charged by the 1,689 stand-alone Medicare Part D plans that will be offered in markets across the country in 2009. The analysis finds premiums charged for Part D plans range widely, from $10.30 per month to $136.80 per month. If current…
2008 Election Briefs October 7, 2008 Poll Finding Health care remains among the top three election issues voters want to hear the presidential candidates discuss. Kaiser’s new series of election briefs frame the challenges the heath care system faces, provide basic facts, and offer questions to assess the presidential candidates’ plans on key health policy issues. Check back…
Medicare Now and in the Future October 1, 2008 Issue Brief Download PDF Issue Medicare is a valuable source of health insurance for nearly 45 million Americans – mainly seniors ages 65 and older, but also 7 million younger adults with permanent disabilities. Before Medicare was signed into law in 1965, about half of all seniors lacked hospital insurance. Today, virtually…
The Federal Government’s Authority To Regulate Advertising in Medicare August 31, 2008 Issue Brief This policy brief, prepared for the Kaiser Family Foundation by Vicky Gottlich at the Center for Medicare Advocacy, explains the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ legal authority to regulate advertising and other information issued by the private companies that contract with the government to provide Medicare benefits. The brief…
Study Finds Advertising By Insurers Favors Medicare Advantage Over Stand-Alone Drug Plans August 31, 2008 Issue Brief As the marketing period for 2009 Medicare plans nears, the Kaiser Family Foundation Kaiser Family Foundation issued a report analyzing the content and frequency of television, print and radio advertisement for private Medicare plans that ran nationally or in one of three local media markets (Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Phoenix, Ariz.;…
The Medicare Part D Coverage Gap: Costs and Consequences in 2007 August 1, 2008 Report This study quantifies the number of Medicare Part D plan enrollees in 2007 who reached a gap in their prescription drug coverage known as the “doughnut hole,” as well as the changes in beneficiaries’ use of medications and out-of-pocket spending after they reached that gap.