The large number of children who lack health insurance is a source of concern for public officials and policymakers. This brief notes that continuous coverage for children in the SCHIP and Medicaid programs—which allows them to maintain their eligibility for a specified period, regardless...

Many current health reform proposals focus on universal coverage, insurance reform, and cost control. This brief presents results from studies of the military health system that have timely implications for health care reform. The findings suggest universal coverage with comprehensive health...

Medicare Advantage (MA), a voluntary program that provides beneficiaries with an alternative way to access traditional Medicare benefits, replaced the Medicare+Choice program in 2004 and became fully operational in 2006. This issue brief reviews recent trends in the program and includes...

The Medicaid Buy-In program is a key component of the federal effort to make it easier for people with disabilities to work without losing health benefits. This issue brief, the second in a series on workers with disabilities, explains how the Medicaid Buy-In program fits into other federal...

Examines the relationship between rising Medicare risk and Medicare+Choice enrollment and the claims experience reported by Medigap insurers between 1996 and 1999. Concludes that adverse selection into Medicare HMOs has probably reduced average medical claims in standard Medigap plans, with a...

The Santa Clara County Children’s Health Initiative seeks to provide coverage through the Healthy Kids initiative to all children in the county whose family incomes are below 300 percent of the federal poverty level. This brief provides new evidence on the effects of insurance coverage on...

Recently, some states have revisited the concept of reinsurance to spread risk in insurance markets, improve the predictability of claims, and reduce the markup of premiums that insurers charge as a buffer against unanticipated claims. This brief examines efforts in Arizona, Connecticut, Idaho,...

This chartbook, prepared for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, provides a snapshot of Medicaid pharmacy benefit use and reimbursement in 2003 and shows key trends from 1999 to 2003.