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Medicare covers nearly 44 million beneficiaries who are elderly, including 37 million seniors and 7 million younger adults with permanent disabilities, and end stage renal disease. The program cost the federal government approximately $375 billion in 2006, accounting for 13 percent of federal spending. Why is Medicare important for congressional staffers to know about? Whom […]

Medicaid is a joint state and federal program. It covers nearly 55 million individuals – children, adults with children, elderly and disabled individuals and cost nearly $300 billion in combined state and federal spending in 2006. Whom does Medicaid serve? What benefits does Medicaid cover? How is it financed? What is the nature of the […]

Providing health insurance coverage to the 46 million Americans without it has been receiving more attention in recent months. Several polls have shown rising public interest in the topic. Coverage is fast becoming an issue in the 2008 presidential campaign, for both Democrats and Republicans. President Bush offered an uninsured proposal in his January State […]

Dollar for dollar, providing better health care for children represents one of the best returns on investment available in the U.S. This involves not only better monitoring of quality and making quality improvements, but also enrolling eligible children in health programs such as SCHIP and Medicaid. And it means ensuring that health care systems – […]

By some estimates, almost three-fourths of America’s nine million uninsured children are eligible for either State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) or Medicaid. As Congress begins debating the reauthorization of the program in earnest, policymakers are examining what is keeping these children from enrolling. Specifically, how successful have state outreach, enrollment and retention efforts proved […]

Authorization for SCHIP expires this September, and, in the coming months, Congress will be debating the program’s extension. Established in 1997 with an authorized 10-year funding level of $40 billion, SCHIP’s accomplishments in providing coverage to an estimated six million children are now widely acknowledged. SCHIP pursues its relatively simple goal – broader coverage for […]

A growing body of evidence shows disparities in quality of care among Medicare beneficiaries of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. These disparities are particularly noteworthy in Medicare, which provides nearly universal access to care to the elderly without regard to race or ethnicity. This suggests that quality of care, and not just access problems, underlie […]

As the nation’s largest payer for health care services, the Medicare program has a major effect on payments to providers. Its ability to align incentives through pay-for-performance will have implications for the health delivery system at large. A recent Institute of Medicine report made recommendations for implementation of “P4P” under Medicare. Proper implementation will require […]

Suddenly, Capitol Hill is talking about health issues again. Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promises that Democrats will roll back the prohibition against the federal government negotiating drug prices on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries. (A Kaiser Family Foundation poll released today found broad bipartisan support for this idea.) Incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says […]

Come January, we can expect to see some new approaches to health legislation. Sen. Harry Reid, incoming Senate majority leader, says one of his top three priorities will be more funding for stem cell research. House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi wants a vote early on to roll back the prohibition against the federal government negotiating prescription […]

The growing complexity of our health care system, and time demands on providers, can cause patients’ non-obvious needs to get lost in the shuffle. Sometimes, the result can be less-than-optimal care. In response, providers are trying to be more responsive to patients’ cultural traditions, family situations, personal preferences and values. Some have tagged this movement […]

Polls consistently show that addressing problems in our health care system remains a top concern for most Americans. But while major health care reform efforts have stalled in Washington, many states are attempting to address the rising number of uninsured on their own. This briefing focused on such efforts in three states – Massachusetts, Vermont […]