Prescription Drug Costs and Coverage, Public Opinion, Research & Recent Legislation

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Prescription Drug Trends
Trend data for prescription drug coverage, expenditures, and the key factors that contribute to rising prescription spending.

Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Data Spotlights
These data spotlights examine key aspects of the drug plans available to Medicare beneficiaries each year, including relevant trends since the Medicare drug benefit took effect in 2006.

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Recent Documents: (255 results)

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Summary of New Health Reform Law -- April 2011
This summary reflects provisions of the comprehensive health reform legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law in March 2010, as changed by subsequent legislation.

Snapshots: Health Benefit Offer Rates and Employee Earnings -- November 2010
The analysis examines how health insurance offer rates vary with average employee wages and finds businesses of all sizes with higher wage workers are more likely to offer health benefits than similar firms with lower wage employees.

kaiserEDU.org Tutorial: Economics and Global Health -- November 2010

This kaiserEDU tutorial provides an overview of the basic concepts of health economics in the context of global health.

Medicare Part D Spotlight: Part D Plan Availability in 2011 and Key Changes Since 2006 -- October 2010
This initial analysis examines the private stand-alone Part D drug plans will be available to Medicare beneficiaries in 2011 and provides an early look at key trends in the options, premiums, and other plan characteristics.

Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) Availability in 2011 -- October 2010
This fact sheet contains 2011 state-specific summary data about available Medicare drug benefit options, including the number of stand-alone plans with gap coverage in the "doughnut hole," and the number of plans available at no cost to qualifying beneficiaries.

The Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit - An Updated Fact Sheet -- October 2010
This updated fact sheet includes the latest information and data about the Medicare Drug Benefit, including a breakdown of the standard benefit, enrollment data and an update on additional low-income assistance.

Tutorial: Health Reform: An Overview -- October 2010

New kaiserEDU tutorial provides an overview of the health reform law and major provisions on coverage, quality of care, and cost containment.

Kaiser Family Foundation Launches Online Health Reform Source to Explain, Ananlyze And Track The New Law's Implementation -- September 2010
Kaiser Family Foundation Launches Online Health Reform Source to Explain, Ananlyze And Track The New Law's Implementation

Snapshots: Trends in Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Offer Rates for Workers in Private Businesses, September 2010 -- September 2010
This analysis examines the share of full-time adult workers in private firms who were offered health insurance at their primary job and how that changed from 1995 to 2005. It is part of the Foundation's "Snapshots: Health Care Costs" series of analytic reports.

Medicare Part D 2010 Data Spotlights -- September 2010
These data spotlights and other resources related to the Part D Medicare stand-alone drug plan options available to seniors for calendar year 2010.

This summary reflects provisions of the comprehensive health reform legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law in March 2010, as changed by subsequent legislation.

The analysis examines how health insurance offer rates vary with average employee wages and finds businesses of all sizes with higher wage workers are more likely to offer health benefits than similar firms with lower wage employees.

This kaiserEDU tutorial provides an overview of the basic concepts of health economics in the context of global health.

This initial analysis examines the private stand-alone Part D drug plans will be available to Medicare beneficiaries in 2011 and provides an early look at key trends in the options, premiums, and other plan characteristics.

This fact sheet contains 2011 state-specific summary data about available Medicare drug benefit options, including the number of stand-alone plans with gap coverage in the "doughnut hole," and the number of plans available at no cost to qualifying beneficiaries.

This updated fact sheet includes the latest information and data about the Medicare Drug Benefit, including a breakdown of the standard benefit, enrollment data and an update on additional low-income assistance.

New kaiserEDU tutorial provides an overview of the health reform law and major provisions on coverage, quality of care, and cost containment.

Kaiser Family Foundation Launches Online Health Reform Source to Explain, Ananlyze And Track The New Law's Implementation

This analysis examines the share of full-time adult workers in private firms who were offered health insurance at their primary job and how that changed from 1995 to 2005. It is part of the Foundation's "Snapshots: Health Care Costs" series of analytic reports.

These data spotlights and other resources related to the Part D Medicare stand-alone drug plan options available to seniors for calendar year 2010.

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Prescription Drugs

Prescription drugs have grown to become an essential component of health care. For millions of Americans, prescription therapies are necessary to their health and ability to function in society. While prescriptions are a relatively small share of overall health spending (11%), they are a key driver of health spending trends, growing almost twice as fast all other health services in recent years.

Public attention has focused on prescription drugs and on the pharmaceutical industry because of the very rapid growth of drug costs and because a significant portion of the population lacks insurance to cover the costs of the drugs they need. Older Americans, who use a disproportionate share of prescription drugs, are less likely to have coverage than younger people because Medicare generally does not cover outpatient pharmaceutical costs. Higher drug costs are placing a stress in public and private insurance programs, and are an important component of the recent growth in state Medicaid spending. Methods of controlling prescription costs (such formularies, requiring generic rather than brand name drugs, tiered copayments) are being used, and their impact on costs and consumers studied. Many of these prescription issues are being examined as policymakers explore options for expanding Medicare’s coverage to include outpatient drugs.

The Foundation’s work on the topic of prescription drugs cuts across private sector, Medicare, and Medicaid program areas. Basic information about the market for prescription drugs, including data on costs and coverage, is provided in chartbooks and factsheets. Surveys and reports look at the issues surrounding adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare; recent legislation on this topic is summarized and explained as well. Recent state efforts to modify their Medicaid prescription programs and pharmaceutical assistance programs are discussed in several reports and fact sheets. The issue of drug promotion by drug manufacturers is also analyzed in a series of reports. The Foundation’s web site for in-depth coverage of health policy news (www.kaisernetwork.org) provides an Issue Spotlight on prescription drugs. The Foundation’s State Health Facts Online website (www.statehealthfacts.kff.org) provides state data on prescription use, sales, and average prices.