The Latest Research, Commentary, And News From Health Affairs
Friday, April 9, 2021
Dear John, Many Medicare
beneficiaries are eligible for additional health subsidies, but what about the beneficiaries who aren’t eligible because they make just above the income limit?
Medicaid ‘Cliff’ Increases Expenses And Decreases Care For Near-Poor Medicare Beneficiaries
Near-poor Medicare beneficiaries—those with incomes more than 100 percent but less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level—account for nearly 30 percent of the Medicare population. They exceed the income limit for Medicaid supplemental coverage and are less likely to have private supplemental insurance than those with higher incomes.
New research published in the April edition of Health Affairs by
Eric Roberts and his coauthors exposes the burden this poses on near-poor patients. They found that Medicare enrollees with incomes just above the coverage "cliff" are estimated to face more than $2,200 in additional out-of-pocket costs over two years and are more likely to incur catastrophic health costs.
"We estimated that 73.3 percent of Medicare beneficiaries whose incomes were just below Medicaid’s
eligibility threshold had any supplemental coverage, compared with 47.5 percent of beneficiaries whose incomes were above this threshold, resulting in a discontinuity in supplemental coverage of 25.8 percentage points," write the authors.
Today on Health Affairs Blog, Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA),
chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, discusses how thenewly launched Racial Equity Initiativewill help his committee address racial inequities as a root cause of health and economic disparities.
Also on the blog:Jeff Micklos and coauthors argue that, while the prior administration had announced its intention to allow the Next Generation Accountable Care Organization model to expire, the Biden administration should revisit this decision and closely consider the model’s merits and worthiness as a permanent program option.
It’s National Public Health Week, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra just renewed the agency’s emergency declaration for the opioid crisis. Listen to Senior Editor Leslie Erdelack and Health Equity Director Vabren Watts discuss why.
Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewedjournalat the intersection of health, health care, and policy.
Published monthly by Project HOPE, the journal is available in print and online. Late-breaking content is also found through healthaffairs.org, Health Affairs Today, and Health Affairs Sunday Update.
Project HOPE is a global health and humanitarian relief organization that places power in the hands of local health care workers to save lives across the globe. Project HOPE has published Health Affairs since 1981.
