Health Affairs Article: Medicare Part D Plans Rarely Cover Brand-Name Drugs When Generics Are Available August 10, 2020 Issue Brief In an article in Health Affairs, KFF’s Juliette Cubanski, Sarah True and Tricia Neuman, and several other co-authors, explore how often brand-name drugs receive favorable formulary inclusion relative to generics in the Medicare Part D program’s prescription drug plans.
How Could the Price of Remdesivir Impact Medicare Spending for COVID-19 Patients? July 14, 2020 Issue Brief This brief discusses how drugs provided in inpatient hospital settings are covered and reimbursed for beneficiaries in traditional Medicare under current law. This is relevant for Medicare spending on COVID-19 patients who receive Gilead’s new antiviral drug remdesivir. We discuss the implications for hospitals and the Medicare program of spending on remdesivir.
Comparing Private Payer and Medicare Payment Rates for Select Inpatient Hospital Services July 7, 2020 Issue Brief This issue brief analyzes hospital payments paid by private payers and by Medicare for a selection of inpatient services, including services requiring similar inpatient treatments to those used for COVID-19. It finds that private insurance payments for such services vary widely and exceed Medicare payment levels.
Black and Hispanic Seniors Have Significantly Lower Savings Than White Seniors June 11, 2020 Slide In 2019, median savings among adults ages 65 and older were substantially lower for Black and Hispanic than White seniors. Approximately 1 in 4 Black and Hispanic seniors had no savings at all. Learn more in this Chart of the Week.
Insulin Costs and Coverage in Medicare Part D June 4, 2020 Issue Brief In light of heightened attention to insulin and the Trump Administration’s new Part D model to address out-of-pocket costs for insulin for Medicare beneficiaries, we analyzed out-of-pocket spending on insulin by beneficiaries enrolled in Part D drug plans, variation in Part D plan formulary coverage and tier placement of insulin products, and trends in prices for insulin.
The Coronavirus Economy Could Make a Medicare Buy-in More Popular May 18, 2020 Perspective In this Axios column, Drew Altman analyzes recent unemployment numbers for older workers and discusses how millions of uninsured older workers could lead to a greater push for incremental Medicare expansion proposals.
Opportunities and Barriers for Telemedicine in the U.S. During the COVID-19 Emergency and Beyond May 11, 2020 Issue Brief This brief analyzes the changes to telehealth regulation and implementation made by the federal government, state governments and health systems in response to the COVID-19 emergency. We outline key changes to telemedicine coverage, for Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers.
Retirement Insecurity in the Time of COVID-19: The Next Shoe to Drop? April 24, 2020 Blog This blog post examines the retirement security of seniors with Medicare in the context of rising unemployment and market volatility due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Medicare Beneficiaries’ Financial Security Before the Coronavirus Pandemic April 24, 2020 Issue Brief This analysis examines the income, savings, and home equity of Medicare beneficiaries in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic. We look at the overall population, and variations by age, gender and race/ethnicity.
COVID-19 and Workers at Risk: Examining the Long-Term Care Workforce April 23, 2020 Issue Brief The highly transmissible nature of the coronavirus combined with the congregate nature of long-term care facility settings and the close and personal contact that many long-term care workers have with patients puts them at elevated risk of infection. This analysis focuses on the characteristics of the 4.5 million people who work in long-term care settings, based on the 2018 American Community Survey.