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  • Dental, Hearing, and Vision Costs and Coverage Among Medicare Beneficiaries in Traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage

    Issue Brief

    This analysis builds on our prior work – Medicare and Dental Coverage: A Closer Look – by analyzing hearing and vision use, out-of-pocket spending and cost-related barriers to care among Medicare beneficiaries as well as hearing and vision benefits in Medicare Advantage plans. It also incorporates top-level findings from the analysis of dental services to provide a comprehensive profile of dental, hearing, and vision benefits in Medicare.

  • Higher and Faster Growing Spending Per Medicare Advantage Enrollee Adds to Medicare’s Solvency and Affordability Challenges

    Issue Brief

    This analysis finds that Medicare spending for Medicare Advantage enrollees was $321 higher per person in 2019 than if enrollees had instead been coverage by traditional Medicare, leading to an estimated $7 billion in additional spending in 2019. It also examines the implications of expected growth in Medicare Advantage enrollment and payments per enrollee from 2021 to 2029.

  • Medicare 101

    Feature

    This Health Policy 101 chapter explores Medicare, a federal health insurance program covering more than 68 million people, established in 1965 for people age 65 or older and later expanded to cover people under age 65 with long-term disabilities. In addition to detailing Medicare eligibility, coverage, and spending, the chapter examines the increased role of private plans in providing benefits and the financing challenges posed by increasing health care costs and an aging population.

  • 10 Key Facts About Women with Medicare

    Issue Brief

    This brief examines 10 key facts about women with Medicare and presents new statistics on the health, economic and functional status of women with Medicare.

  • A New Use for Wegovy Opens the Door to Medicare Coverage for Millions of People with Obesity

    Issue Brief

    The FDA recently approved a new use for Wegovy, the blockbuster anti-obesity drug, to reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke in people with cardiovascular disease who are overweight or obese - a decision that opens the door to Medicare coverage of Wegovy, which is prohibited by law from covering drugs used for obesity. This brief analyses how many Medicare beneficiaries could be eligible for the new use of Wegovy and the potential impact on Medicare spending.

  • FAQs on Medicare Financing and Trust Fund Solvency

    Issue Brief

    In discussions of Medicare’s financial condition, attention frequently centers on one specific measure—the solvency of the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) trust fund, out of which Medicare Part A benefits are paid. Based on current projections from the Medicare Board of Trustees, the HI trust fund is projected to be depleted in 2036, 12 years from now. These FAQs answer key questions about Medicare financing and trust fund solvency.

  • Unpacking the Controversy Over Medicare Advantage

    Event Date:
    Event

    Medicare Advantage is the rapidly growing private plan alternative to traditional Medicare that provides coverage to approximately half of Medicare beneficiaries. On Tuesday, March 21, three experts joined series moderator Larry Levitt in a 45-minute discussion on Medicare Advantage, addressing such questions as: What has driven the growth in Medicare Advantage enrollment? What are the implications of enrollment being concentrated in a few insurance firms? Is the federal government overpaying plans? What would the new rules and proposed changes do, and how would they affect beneficiaries?