Congressional Research Service Reports - 113 Matching Results
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- Nursing Homes and the Congress: A Brief History of Developments and Issues
- No Description Available.
- The Cost of Prescription Drugs for the Uninsured Elderly and Legislative Approaches
- The purpose of this report is to explain why many of those who are least able to afford high drug costs are those who are most frequently charged the most. This report describes the basic economic theory underlying price differentiation and, in the context of the pharmaceutical market, analyzes the role and behavior of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), pharmaceutical manufacturers, and retail pharmacies, respectively. It also looks at a number of the criticisms that have been made of the practice of differential pricing. Finally, this report discusses various policy approaches aimed at assisting the elderly to purchase prescription drugs.
- Medicare Expansion: President Clinton's Proposals to Allow Coverage Before Age 65
- This report discusses medicare expansion; President Clinton's proposal to allow people ages 62 through 64 to buy into Medicare if they do not have access to employer-sponsored or federal health insurance.
- Medicare Beneficiary Access to Care: The Effects of New Prospective Payment Systems on Outpatient Hospital Care, Home Health Care, and Skilled Nursing Facility Care
- This report discusses the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA 97), which required that prospective payment systems replace retrospective cost-based reimbursement systems for Medicare beneficiaries receiving care in hospital outpatient departments, from home health care agencies, and in skilled nursing facilities.
- Medicaid Reimbursement Policy
- This report begins with a summary of basic federal requirements applicable to payments for all services and an overview of major developments in federal Medicaid reimbursement policy over the last 20 years. This overview provides a historical context for current policies and highlights some issues that have been perennial concerns for federal and state policymakers. The next four sections of the report provide a detailed discussion of Medicaid reimbursement for four basic categories of services or providers.
- Medicare Advantage
- This report is an overview of the Medicare Advantage (MA) program, an alternative way for Medicare beneficiaries to receive covered benefits, and includes legislative history and analysis of recent trends.
- Factors Affecting the Demand for Long-Term Care Insurance: Issues for Congress
- This report will discuss the role of long-term care insurance (LTCI) in financing long term care (LTC) costs and current trends in the LTCI industry; factors affecting the demand for LTCI, including cost and complexity of the product and adequacy of consumer protections; and key features of legislative proposals in the 111th Congress to address these issues.
- Converting Retirement Savings into Income: Annuities and Periodic Withdrawals
- To a worker contemplating retirement, there is perhaps no more important question than "How long will my money last?" Congress has a strong interest in the income security of older Americans because much of their income is either provided directly from public programs like Social Security, or in the case of pensions and retirement accounts, is subsidized through tax deductions and deferrals. This report discusses risks involved with retirement fund disbursement and strategies for dealing with such risks.
- Converting Retirement Savings into Income: Annuities and Periodic Withdrawals
- To a worker contemplating retirement, there is perhaps no more important question than "How long will my money last?" Congress has a strong interest in the income security of older Americans because much of their income is either provided directly from public programs like Social Security, or in the case of pensions and retirement accounts, is subsidized through tax deductions and deferrals. This report looks at strategies to help deal with the following risks: longevity, investment, inflation, and unexpected events.
- Older Americans Act: FY2015 Appropriations Overview
- This report discusses Older Americans Act (OAA) funding. It begins with an overview of OAA's FY2015 funding and provides a detailed breakdown of current-year funding for each of the act's programs and activities. The report then reviews OAA's funding history since FY2001. Next, it summarizes FY2015 legislative activity with respect to OAA appropriations. It concludes with a discussion of FY2015 funding decisions for selected OAA programs.
- Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Premiums: Fact Sheet
- Financing for social security -- Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance -- and the Hospital Insurance part of Medicare is provided primarily by taxes levied on wages and net self-employment income. Financing for the Supplementary Medical Insurance portion of Medicare is provided by premiums from enrollees and payments from the government. This report describes these taxes and premiums.
- Older Americans Act: 105th Congress Issues
- No Description Available.
- Older Americans Act: Disaster Assistance for Older Persons After Hurricane Katrina
- The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is having significant negative effects on older persons with physical and mental disabilities. Persons who are socially isolated and dependent upon informal caregivers and social service programs to assist them live independently have immediate and long-term needs. The Administration on Aging (AoA) has allocated $750,000 in disaster relief funds available through the Older Americans Act to Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi (divided equally among the three states). Congress may consider whether additional actions are necessary to assist state and area agencies on aging in their efforts to assist the frail elderly in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
- Older Americans Act: Programs and Funding
- Report on the programs and funding for social and nutrition services for older persons, including a list of the programs, grants, elder rights, and more.
- Medicare Endorsed Prescription Drug Discount Card Program
- No Description Available.
- Medicare: Financing the Part A Hospital Insurance Program
- This report discusses Medicare, which consists of two distinct parts — Part A (Hospital Insurance (HI)) and Part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI)). Part A is financed primarily through payroll taxes levied on current workers and their employers. Income from these taxes is credited to the HI trust fund. Part B is financed through a combination of monthly premiums paid by current enrollees and general revenues. Income from these sources is credited to the SMI trust fund.
- Medicare: Financing the Part A Hospital Insurance Program
- No Description Available.
- Medicare: Major Prescription Drug Provisions of Selected Bills
- No Description Available.
- Medicare: Major Prescription Drug Provisions of Selected Bills
- No Description Available.
- Medicare: Major Prescription Drug Provisions of Selected Bills
- No Description Available.
- Medicare: Part B Premium Penalty
- No Description Available.
- Medicare: Payments to Physicians
- This report discusses payments for physicians services under Medicare that are made on the basis of a fee schedule.
- Medicare: Physician Payments
- This report discusses payments for physicians services under Medicare that are made on the basis of a fee schedule.
- Medicare: Prescription Drug Proposals
- This report provides an overview of the President’s plan and the legislation introduced to date in the 106th Congress. It
- Medicare Prescription Drug Provisions of S.1, as Passed by the Senate, and H.R. 1, as Passed by the House
- This report discusses differences in the specifics of the prescription drug provisions in S. 1 and H.R. 1 and provides a side-by-side comparison of the Title I provisions of both bills.
- Medicare: Private Contracts
- This report discusses private contracting for medicare,which is the term used to describe situations where a physician and a patient agree not to submit a claim for a service which would otherwise be covered and paid for by Medicare.
- Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit: An Overview of Implementation for Dual Eligibles
- This report provides background information on the early stages of the implementation of the Medicare Part D outpatient prescription drug program. This report describes certain policies and implementation issues related to those who are not dually eligible.
- Major Provisions of the Medicare Modernization and Prescription Drug Act of 2002, H.R. 4954, as Passed by the House
- No Description Available.
- Medicare Structure Reform: Background and Options
- No Description Available.
- Medicare Prescription Drug and Reform Legislation
- This report describes the major features of S. 1, as ordered reported, and the measure to be considered by the House Ways and Means Committee, H.R. 2473, as ordered reported.
- Overview of the Medicare Prescription Drug and Reform Legislation
- No Description Available.
- Overview of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003
- No Description Available.
- Overview of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003
- This report examines the the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, which creates a prescription drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries and establishes a new Medicare Advantage program to replace the current Medicare+Choice program.
- Medicare: Changes to Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA 97, P.L. 105-33) Provisions
- This report summarizes the major provisions of the agreement between the by House and Senate negotiators on the Medicare provisions.
- The LIHEAP Formula: Legislative History and Current Law
- This Congressional Research Service Report for Congress contains information about the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). LIHEAP provides funds to states, the District of Colombia, U.S territories and commonwealths, and Indian tribal organizations (collectively referred to as grantees) primary to help low-income households pay home energy expenses.
- Medicare: Beneficiary Cost-Sharing Under Prescription Drug Legislation
- This report provides an analysis of how the cost-sharing and premium provisions under the Prescription Drug and Medicare Improvement Act of 2003 (S. 1) and the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003 (H bill would affect the amount that a beneficiary would pay annually for prescription drugs.
- Medicare: Beneficiary Cost-Sharing Under Proposed Prescription Drug Benefits
- This report examines these proposals as well as the “Medicare Rx Drug Benefit and Discount Act of 2003,” which was introduced by Representative Charles Rangel, the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Specifically, this report provides background on how the cost-sharing and premium provisions under each bill would affect the amount that a beneficiary pays annually for prescription drugs.
- Medicare: Beneficiary Cost-Sharing Under Proposed Prescription Drug Benefits
- This report provides background on how the cost-sharing and premium provisions under each bill would affect the amount that a beneficiary pays annually for prescription drugs. In addition, this report gives examples of how annual cost-sharing would differ for beneficiaries with various levels of total prescription drug spending in 2006 under the plans.
- Medicare Prescription Drug Proposals: Estimates of Aged Beneficiaries Who Fall Below Income Criteria, by State
- This report discusses bills related to Medicare benefits, which include additional assistance for low-income beneficiaries. The assistance would have been in the form of reduced, subsidized or eliminated premiums, deductibles and other cost-sharing. Proposals in the 108th Congress will probably also include some of these features for low-income beneficiaries.
- H.R. 6500, The Thrift Savings Plan Enhancement Act of 2008
- This report describes the various aspects of the Thrift Savings Plan Enhancement Act of 2008.
- Income and Poverty Among Older Americans in 2007
- This report describes the income and poverty status of the 36.8 million Americans age 65 and older who were living in households in 2007. The report also describes how the proportion of total income received from each source differs between high-income individuals and households and low-income individuals and households.
- Income and Poverty Among Older Americans in 2008
- This report describes the sources and amounts of income received by the 37.8 million Americans aged 65 and older who lived in non-institutional settings in 2008. The report also describes how the proportion of total income received from each source differs between high-income individuals and households and low-income individuals and households.
- Income of Americans Aged 65 and Older, 1968 to 2008
- This report presents data collected by the Census Bureau in the Current Population Survey from 1969 through 2009 about the employment status and the sources and amounts of income received by people aged 65 and older.
- Pension Sponsorship and Participation: Summary of Recent Trends
- This report discusses trends that will affect the economic well-being of future retirees.
- Pension Sponsorship and Participation: Summary of Recent Trends
- This report discusses trends that will affect the economic well-being of future retirees.
- Regulating Private Pensions: A Brief Summary of ERISA
- This report briefly discusses the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and how it protects the interests of participants and beneficiaries in private-sector employee benefit plans. ERISA covers a number of fringe benefits provided by employers, but most of its provisions deal with pension plans. Pension plans sponsored by the federal, state, and local governments, or by churches generally are exempt from ERISA.
- Retirement Savings and Household Wealth in 2007
- This report discusses various issues that impact the retirement income of Americans. About half of all workers in the United States participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan of some kind, a proportion that has remained relatively stable over the past thirty years. Because the majority of assets held in retirement accounts are invested in stocks, trends in stock prices have a significant impact on households' retirement account balances.
- Civil Service Retirement Bills in the 106th Congress
- Among the civil service retirement issues addressed in bills introduced thus far in the 106th Congress are the correction of retirement coverage errors for federal employees assigned to the wrong retirement system; immediate eligibility for federal employees to participate in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP); improved portability of pension benefits; and repeal of the temporary increase in employee retirement contributions that was mandated by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Other bills would expand TSP eligibility to include members of the armed services; improve pension coverage for temporary and part-time federal employees; and designate several categories of federal employees as law enforcement officers for purposes of determining their retirement benefits.
- Older Workers: Employment and Retirement Trends
- No Description Available.
- Older Workers: Employment and Retirement Trends
- No Description Available.