Document Detail


Measuring coverage for seniors in Medicare Part A and estimating the cost of making it universal.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20159846     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
That Medicare is universal for seniors is widely accepted by leading analysts. But in the context of developing detailed policies that seek to cover as many people as possible, it is inaccurate to make Medicare eligibility sound so simple and inclusive. To estimate the number of seniors without full federal Medicare Part A coverage, we examined data for uninsured seniors, seniors with Medicaid and no Medicare coverage of any kind, seniors with Medicare Part B but without Part A, and seniors bought into Part A by their state Medicaid programs. We found that in 2005, 1.6 million seniors--or 5 percent of the elderly U.S. population--were without a full federal Part A premium subsidy. The share of seniors without this benefit was notably higher in the nation's two largest states--California (12 percent) and New York (8 percent). We estimate that reforming Medicare Part A to make the benefit truly universal and fully federal would cost the federal government $6 billion in new spending in federal fiscal year 2011, an increase in baseline federal Medicare expenditures of 1.1 percent.
Authors:
Michael Birnbaum; Elizabeth M Patchias
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of health politics, policy and law     Volume:  35     ISSN:  1527-1927     ISO Abbreviation:  J Health Polit Policy Law     Publication Date:  2010 Feb 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-02-17     Completed Date:  2010-03-11     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  7609331     Medline TA:  J Health Polit Policy Law     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  49-62     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
United Hospital Fund.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Aged
Eligibility Determination
Health Care Reform / economics*
Humans
Insurance Coverage / economics,  statistics & numerical data*
Medicaid / statistics & numerical data
Medically Uninsured / statistics & numerical data
Medicare Part A / economics,  statistics & numerical data*
Medicare Part B / statistics & numerical data
State Health Plans / organization & administration
United States
Universal Coverage / economics*

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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