The authors beneficiaries younger than age sixty-five living in the community (as opposed to those in facility settings) with beneficiaries ages sixty-five and older.
They find that the approximately 8 million Medicare enrollees who are younger than age sixty-five report significant access and cost concerns.
Younger enrollees are more likely than older enrollees to report having trouble accessing health care in the past year, more likely to report dissatisfaction with out-of-pocket spending, and are more unsatisfied with the quality of medical care they receive.
“Black and Hispanic beneficiaries make up a disproportionate share of younger Medicare beneficiaries
with disabilities,” the authors note, so “efforts to improve their experiences within Medicare would be consistent with the broader [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] strategy to adopt policies that promote health equity.”
“Our findings raise questions as to the adequacy of the current Medicare program to meet the physical and mental health needs of beneficiaries with disabilities,” Koma and coauthors conclude.
Note: Earlier this week in the Letter From The Editor, we had a typo in the following sentence that has since been corrected, "They find that the approximately 8 million Medicare enrollees who are younger than age sixty-five report significant access and cost concerns."
Elsewhere At Health Affairs
In Forefront, Benjamin Howell and Bradley Richards propose a new strategy for addressing the health care needs of individuals transitioning out of incarceration: creating bundled payments around episodes of social disruption.
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When was the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) passed?
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