Medicare

Since its inception, Medicare has explicitly excluded coverage of dental services, with limited exceptions. Nearly two-thirds of the Medicare population – 37 million beneficiaries – have no dental coverage at all.

The average person with traditional Medicare coverage paid $5,460 out of their own pocket for health care in 2016. But some groups of beneficiaries spent substantially more than others.

Part D enrollees with relatively high out-of-pocket expenses can expect see their costs rise in 2020. This is mainly due to an increase in how much enrollees will pay out of pocket for their prescription drugs in the coverage gap phase before they qualify for catastrophic coverage.

A relatively small share of people with Medicare Advantage or stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage voluntarily switch plans during Medicare’s open enrollment period from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7.

Medicare Advantage plans have taken a large and growing role in the Medicare program over the past decade, with more than 22 million beneficiaries (34%) enrolled in the private plans in 2019.

In 2020, nearly nine in 10 stand-alone drug plan enrollees are projected to be in plans operated by five firms: UnitedHealth, Humana, WellCare, CVS Health, and Cigna