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As federal and state governments advance efforts to better coordinate care and reduce costs for people dually eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid benefits, this brief examines how insurers now serving these markets view the opportunities and challenges, including a look at Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plans.
This short Kaiser Family Foundation documentary profiles the experiences of three Medicare families trying to pay for their health care costs with other household spending. The families are among 16 featured in a companion report examining the role Medicare now plays in the lives of beneficiaries and the challenges many face in paying for their health care and other living expenses on a fixed budget.
In this JAMA Forum column, KFF’s Larry Levitt examines the growing role of private insurance companies in public programs, including Medicare Advantage and Medicaid managed care, and the tradeoffs that result.
As Medicare Advantage continues to grow, a gradual but significant reshaping of the Medicare program is taking place. A new KFF analysis finds that nearly half of eligible Medicare beneficiaries – 28.4 million out of 58.6 million Medicare beneficiaries overall – are now enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans.
Recently released data show that Medicare Advantage, the private plan alternative to traditional Medicare, now covers half of eligible Medicare beneficiaries. As the role of Medicare Advantage grows, so will interest in understanding how well the program serves the increasingly diverse group of enrollees who receive their Medicare coverage from private insurers.
Share of Medicare Beneficiaries Enrolled in Medicare Advantage Plans, by State, 2013 Download Source MPR/Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of CMS State/County Market Penetration Files, 2013.
Total Medicare Private Health Plan Enrollment, 1999-2013 Download Source MPR/Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of CMS Medicare Advantage enrollment files, 2008-2013, and MPR, “Tracking Medicare Health and Prescription Drug Plans Monthly Report,” 2001-2007; enrollment numbers from March of the respective year, with the exception of 2006, which is from April.
In the latest post in the Policy Insights series, Tricia Neuman draws on the experiences of Medicare beneficiaries during Medicare’s annual enrollment period to consider whether consumers with health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s new marketplaces will shop for a better deal during their open enrollment season. Previous columns in the Policy Insights series are also available on kff.org.
Today a record three in 10 Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage health plans, mainly HMOs and PPOs, which are paid by the government to provide Medicare benefits to their enrollees.
Medicare: The Essentials (July 2013) Download Medicare Enrollment, 1966-2013 Download Source Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicare Enrollment: Hospital Insurance and/or Supplemental Medical Insurance Programs for Total, Fee-for-Service and Managed Care Enrollees as of July 1, 2011: Selected Calendar Years 1966-2011; 2012-2013, HHS Budget in Brief, FY2014.
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