The Gap in Medigap
This policy insight examines the low rate of Medigap coverage among people under age 65 with disabilities on Medicare and the federal law that governs consumer rights and protections related to Medigap open enrollment.
View the Latest: Medigap
Filter
-
-
5 Questions About the Idea of Default Enrollment into Medicare Advantage Plans
Issue BriefThis brief considers how default enrollment into Medicare Advantage might work, potential challenges with this approach, and implications for beneficiaries, insurers, providers, agents and brokers, and the federal budget.
-
Medigap: Spotlight on Enrollment, Premiums and Recent Trends
ReportMedicare supplemental insurance, also known as "Medigap," is an important source of supplemental coverage for nearly one in four people on Medicare. Traditional Medicare has cost-sharing requirements and significant gaps in coverage; Medigap helps make health care costs more predictable and stable for beneficiaries by covering some or all Medicare costs, including deductibles and cost-sharing.
-
Medigap May Be Elusive for Medicare Beneficiaries with Pre-Existing Conditions
Issue BriefThis issue brief analyzes federal and state guaranteed issue rules and how they impact beneficiaries’ access to Medigap, including the implications for Medicare beneficiaries with pre-existing conditions and those under age 65 with long-term disabilities. This brief also explores a recently finalized rule: Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities regarding Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act that may have implications for the Medigap market.
-
Sources of Supplemental Coverage Among Medicare Beneficiaries, 2009
FeatureSources of Supplemental Coverage Among Medicare Beneficiaries, 2009 Download Source Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, 2009 Cost and Use file.
-
Traditional Medicare…Disadvantaged?
PerspectiveIn this new policy insight, Tricia Neuman examines current rules that may discourage seniors from switching from Medicare Advantage to traditional Medicare. The issue is explored through the lens of a 67-year-old beneficiary who faced difficult financial and health coverage choices in the aftermath of a serious biking accident.
-
Streamlining Cost Sharing in Medicare: The Impact on Beneficiaries
Event Date:EventThis July 22, 2013 briefing, Streamlining Cost Sharing in Medicare: The Impact on Beneficiaries, explored the impact on beneficiaries of recent proposals to combine the two main parts of Medicare.
-
Modifying Medicare’s Benefit Design: What’s the Impact on Beneficiaries and Spending?
ReportThis report examines an approach to reforming Medicare that has been a focus of Congressional hearings and featured in several broader debt reduction and entitlement reform proposals, and was included in the June 2016 House Republican health plan. The analysis models four different options for modifying Medicare's benefit design, all of which include a single deductible, modified cost-sharing requirements, a new cost-sharing limit, and a prohibition on first-dollar Medigap coverage. The analysis models the expected effects on out-of-pocket spending by beneficiaries in traditional Medicare, and assesses how each option is expected to affect spending by the federal government, state Medicaid programs, employers, and other payers, assuming full implementation in 2018.
-
Medigap Enrollment and Consumer Protections Vary Across States
Issue BriefA quarter of people in traditional Medicare had private, supplemental health insurance in 2015—also known as Medigap—to help cover their Medicare deductibles and cost-sharing requirements, as well as protect themselves against catastrophic expenses for Medicare-covered services. This issue brief examines implications for older adults with pre-existing medical conditions who may be unable to purchase a Medigap policy or change their supplemental coverage after their initial open enrollment period.
-
Most Medicare Beneficiaries Affected by Plan Terminations in 2025 Have Robust Medicare Advantage Options in 2026
Issue BriefVirtually all (98.9%) of the 2.6 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan that terminated coverage at the end of 2025 have at least one MA-PD available in 2026, including more than two-thirds (68.7%) who have the option of enrolling in a plan sponsored by the same insurer.