Medicare offers health and financial protection to nearly 60 million adults ages 65 and over and younger people with disabilities. However, the high cost of premiums, cost-sharing requirements, and gaps in the Medicare benefit package can result in beneficiaries devoting a substantial share of their total household spending to health care costs.This analysis compares health-related expenses as a share of total household spending for Medicare and non-Medicare households, using the 2016 Consumer Expenditure Survey. We estimate how much Medicare and non-Medicare households spent on health care, including premiums, compared to other household spending (e.g., housing, transportation, and food).

This fact sheet shows enrollment in the capitated financial alignment demonstrations for dual eligibles as of July 2017.

This infographic highlights Medicaid’s role for seniors. It includes information about the senior population and highlights Medicaid’s role in increasing access to and financing treatment, particularly for long-term care. It also discusses the potential impact of proposals to limit federal Medicaid financing.

Gretchen Jacobson, Associate Director of the Foundation’s Program on Medicare Policy, testified on June 7, 2017 before the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Health. Her testimony focused on three approaches for integrating and coordinating care for Medicare beneficiaries, and the opportunities and challenges presented by these approaches.

This brief outlines Medicaid’s role for Medicare beneficiaries. It describes the role that Medicaid plays for 10 million Medicare beneficiaries to help inform upcoming debates about proposals to restructure Medicaid financing in ways that could reduce federal funding.

This issue brief compares the financial alignment demonstrations for beneficiaries who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid in states that have memoranda of understanding approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

This map shows the current status of the state demonstration proposals to integrate care and align financing for beneficiaries eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Over 9.6 million seniors and younger people with significant disabilities are dually eligible for both programs, and as many as 2 million of them may be included in the demonstrations.

Using the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), this brief first examines the need for long-term services and supports (LTSS) among seniors living in the community. It then studies health status, mobility limitations, and housing characteristics of seniors living in the community with an LTSS need.

This issue brief compares the financial alignment demonstrations for beneficiaries who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid in states that have memoranda of understanding approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

This issue brief provides insights about initial implementation of the financial alignment demonstrations from the perspective of dual eligible beneficiaries in Massachusetts, Ohio, and Virginia, based on 12 individual interviews conducted in early 2015. Profiles of six beneficiaries are presented to illustrate representative program experiences, along with key findings from across all of the interviews.