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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.
How Medicaid Works - Program Basics
Medicaid is a means-tested entitlement program that has been in existence for over 35 years. It provides primary and acute care as well as long-term care to over 50 million Americans at a cost to federal and state governments of approximately $276.1 billion in FY2003. Of all federally supported social programs, only Medicare comes close to this level of spending, and only Social Security costs more.
Medicare: Part B Premium Penalty
No Description Available.
Medicaid Issues for the 109th Congress
This report provides background information for medicaid reforms and discuses proposals for reform.
Medicaid: A Primer
This report describes the basic elements of Medicaid, focusing on federal rules governing who is eligible, what services are covered, how the program is financed and how beneficiaries share in the cost, how providers are paid, and the role of special waivers in expanding eligibility and modifying benefits.
Medicare: Financing the Part A Hospital Insurance Program
No Description Available.
Medicare Financing
This report provides an overview of how the Medicare program is financed, including a description of the Medicare trust funds and a summary of key findings and estimates from the 2013 Report of the Medicare Board of Trustees regarding 2012 program operations and future financial soundness.
Military Medical Care: Frequently Asked Questions
This report answers selected frequently-asked questions about military health care, including: 1) How is the Military Health System structured?, 2) What is TRICARE?, 3) What are the different TRICARE plans and who is eligible?, 4) What are the costs of military health care to beneficiaries?, 5) What is the relationship of TRICARE to Medicare?, 6) How does the Affordable Care Act affect TRICARE?, 7) When can beneficiaries change their TRICARE plan?, and 8) What is the Medicare Eligible Retiree Health Care fund, which funds TRICARE for Life?
Medicare Physician Payment Updates and the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) System
This report provides a background on the Medicare fee schedule, the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) system and the annual updates, and discusses recent proposal to address this issue.
Abortion: Judicial History and Legislative Response
This report discusses the judicial history of abortion and how legislatures respond to those decisions made by the court. The report tackles landmark cases such as Roe v. Wade as well as companion decisions such as Doe v. Bolton. The report highlights specifically how Congress has attempted to enact legislation that limits abortion practices.
Medicare Primer
This report provides an overview of Medicare, the nation's federal insurance program, which pays for covered health care services of qualified beneficiaries.
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.
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-23): Brief Summary of Division E-The Advancing Chronic Care, Extenders, and Social Services (ACCESS) Act
This report provides a brief summary of each of the provisions included in Division E (the ACCESS Act) of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, along with the contact information for the CRS expert who can answer questions about each provision. Division E consists of 12 titles. Each title is addressed in a separate table, and the provisions are discussed in the order they appear in the law. Topics discussed in this report include Medicare, Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), public health, child and family services, foster care, social impact partnerships, child support enforcement, and prison data reporting. Subsequent CRS reports examining selected subsets of these provisions will be linked to this report as they become available.
The Individual Mandate for Health Insurance Coverage: In Brief
This report provides an overview of the individual mandate for health insurance, its associated penalty, and the exemptions from the mandate.
Tax Options for Financing Health Care Reform
This report reviews the revenue raisers proposed to fund health care reform. Other financing proposals are presented including those made by the Obama Administration and those introduced in earlier congressional work. The final sections discuss other proposals suggested by the round-table discussion participants.
The Community Health Center Fund: In Brief
This report provides information on the Community Health Center Fund (CHCF) that may be useful for discussions about the fund's future. Specifically, it includes information on: the types of grants awarded, total funds disbursed, and the amount of CHCF funds that facilities in each state and territory received.
Appropriations and Fund Transfers in the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
This report summarizes all the mandatory appropriations and Medicare trust fund transfers in the ACA and provides details on the status of obligation of these funds. The information is presented in two tables. The report also includes a brief discussion of the impact that sequestration is having on ACA mandatory spending. This report is periodically revised and updated to reflect important legislative and other developments.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Global Health Programs: FY2001-FY2011
This report explains the role the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plays in U.S. global health assistance, highlights how much the agency has spent on global health efforts from FY2001 to FY2010, and discusses how funding to each of its programs has changed during this period.
Appropriations and Fund Transfers in the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
This report summarizes all the mandatory appropriations and Medicare trust fund transfers in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and provides details on the status of obligation of these funds. The information is presented in two tables. The report also includes a brief discussion of the impact that sequestration is having on ACA mandatory spending.
Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA) Under Medicaid
This report provides an overview of transitional medical assistance (TMA). While Section 1925 of the Social Security Act outlines the provisions requiring states to provide TMA for up to 12 months, states have considerable flexibility in designing and implementing their TMA programs.
Self-Insured Health Insurance Coverage
This report provides background information on private health insurance coverage, state and federal regulation of private coverage, and self-insured health plans. It includes data on the prevalence of self-insurance and discusses the employer decision to self-insure. Lastly, it describes selected private health insurance provisions under federal health reform, and application of such provisions on self-insured plans.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: President’s FY2013 Budget
This report summarizes the President's budget estimates for each section of the CMS budget. Then, for each legislative proposal included in the President's budget, this report provides a description of current law and the President's proposal. The explanations of the President's legislative proposals are grouped by the following program areas: Medicare, Medicaid, program integrity, and health insurance programs.
Health Savings Accounts: Overview of Rules for 2012
This report provides a summary of the principal rules governing Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), covering such matters as eligibility, qualifying health insurance, contributions, and withdrawals.
Discretionary Spending Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
This report examines the Affordable Care Act's (ACA's) effects on discretionary spending. It first discusses all the ACA authorizations (and reauthorizations) of appropriations for grant and other programs; this information, along with actual funding amounts, is summarized in a series of tables. The report then reviews the ACA administrative costs borne by CMS and the IRS.
Medicare Physician Payment Updates and the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) System
This report discusses the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), which is the statutory method for determining the annual updates to the Medicare physician fee schedule. The SGR system was established because of the concern that the Medicare fee schedule itself would not adequately constrain overall increases in spending for physicians’ services.
Federal Drug Price Negotiation: Implications for Medicare Part D
This report discusses what it means for the federal government to “negotiate” drug prices under existing public programs, the arguments for and against such activities, and some implications for the pharmaceutical industry, Medicare beneficiaries, and others if similar federal involvement were to occur on behalf of the Medicare Part D program.
Medicaid Expenditures, FY2003 and FY2004
This report discusses the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP), which is the percentage of Medicaid benefit costs paid for by the federal government.
Medicare Physician Payment Updates and the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) System
This report provides a background on the Medicare fee schedule, the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) system, and the annual updates and discusses recent proposals to address this issue.
Health Care and Markets
Health care spending is one of the most rapidly growing portions of the federal budget. Projections suggest if the rapid growth in health care costs is not curtailed, governments at all levels will face an uncomfortable choice between significant cuts in other spending priorities or major tax increases. This report examines the economic justification for government intervention and involvement in health care markets.
Health-Related Tax Expenditures: Overview and Analysis
This report analyzes health-related tax expenditures together at the budget function level, rather than focusing on the size of any single provision. To provide some insights into common questions about health-related expenditures, this report analyzes historical data on health-related tax expenditure estimates published by the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT).
Self-Insured Health Insurance Coverage
This report provides background information on private health insurance coverage, state and federal regulation of private coverage, and self-insured health plans. It includes data on the prevalence of self-insurance and discusses the employer decision to self-insure. Lastly, it describes selected private health insurance provisions under federal health reform, and application of such provisions on self-insured plans.
Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 (P. L. 93-222)
This report discusses the provisions of the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 (P. L. 93-222) which provided funding to assist in the start-up of health maintenance organizations (HMO).
Discretionary Spending Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
This report examines the Affordable Care Act's (ACA's) effects on discretionary spending. It first discusses all the ACA authorizations (and reauthorizations) of appropriations for grant and other programs; this information, along with actual funding amounts, is summarized in a series of tables. The report then reviews the ACA administrative costs borne by CMS and the IRS.
Finding Medicare Enrollment Statistics
This report presents basic categories and definitions for terms related to Medicare enrollment data, a quick reference table that summarizes key data available in selected resources, and a more detailed overview of core resources.
State Medicaid and SCRIP Coverage of Noncitizens
This report focuses on the laws governing noncitizen eligibility for Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and -- to the extent of available data -- implementation of these policies at the state level
Medicaid and Outpatient Hospital Services
This report discusses a recently-proposed Medicaid rule that would change the definition of outpatient hospital and rural health clinic services, as well as the methods that states must use to demonstrate compliance with the federal upper payment limit on outpatient hospital services provided in private outpatient facilities. A number of groups have expressed concern that this rule will have a significant negative impact on coverage of certain services, which may harm Medicaid beneficiaries.
A Federal Pause in Potentially Risky Influenza Research
This report briefly discusses a recently implemented federal research moratorium that has highlighted concerns about the general appropriateness of research on biological pathogens and the sufficiency of certain biosecurity efforts.
Discretionary Spending Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act, or ACA) reauthorized funding for numerous existing discretionary grant programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The ACA also created many new discretionary grant programs and provided for each an authorization of appropriations. Generally, the law authorized (or reauthorized) appropriations through FY2014 or FY2015. This report summarizes all the discretionary spending provisions in the ACA.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Global Health Programs: FY2001-FY2010
This report explains the role the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plays in U.S. global health assistance, highlights how much the agency has spent on global health efforts from FY2001 to FY2010, and discusses how funding to each of its programs changed during this period.
Treatment of Noncitizens in H.R. 3200
This report outlines the treatment of noncitizens under H.R. 3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. The report analyzes specific provisions in H.R. 3200, and whether there are eligibility requirements for noncitizens in the selected provisions.
Health Care Reform: An Introduction
This report provides an introduction to health care reform. It focuses on the three predominant concerns just mentioned--coverage, cost and spending, and quality--and some of the legislative issues within which they likely will be debated, including the scope of reform (particularly whether Medicare and Medicaid should be included); the choice between public and private coverage; whether employment-based insurance should be strengthened, weakened, or left alone; and what role states might play.
Treatment of Noncitizens in H.R. 3200
This report outlines the treatment of noncitizens under H.R. 3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. The report analyzes specific provisions in H.R. 3200, and whether there are eligibility requirements for noncitizens in the selected provisions.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, P.L. 111-5): Title V, Medicaid Provisions
In addition to reducing some taxes and funding infrastructure projects, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provisions were designed to provide: temporary support to families and individuals by increasing unemployment compensation benefits; financial assistance for individuals to maintain their health coverage under provisions in the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA); temporary increases in Medicaid matching rates; and increases in disproportionate share hospital allotments. This report is a summary of ARRA's Medicaid provisions.
Health Insurance Premium Assistance for the Unemployed: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
This report discusses employer-sponsored health insurance coverage and barriers to accessing health insurance for the unemployed; provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) with respect to unemployment and health insurance; and potential impact of ARRA provisions on the unemployed.
Long-Term Care: What Direction for Public Policy?
No Description Available.
Overview of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003
No Description Available.
Long-Term Care: What Direction for Public Policy?
No Description Available.
Health Savings Accounts: Overview and Rules for 2006
This report provide a summary of the principal rules governing Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), covering such matters as eligibility, qualifying health insurance, contributions, and withdrawals.
Health Maintenance Organizations
This report discusses the "health maintenance organization", which is an entity that provides specific health services to its members for a prepaid, fixed payment.
Health Savings Accounts: Some Current Policy Issues
This report discusses the Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), which are one way that people can pay for their unreimbursed medical expenses (deductibles, copayments, and services not covered by insurance) on a tax-advantaged basis
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