• Home
  • Health & Wellness
  • Disclaimer
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • DMCA Notice
  • Home
  • Health & Wellness
  • Disclaimer
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • DMCA Notice
24/7 Health News
No Result
View All Result
Home Article

Where the government draws the line for Medicaid coverage leaves out many older Americans who may need help paying for medical and long-term care bills – new research

July 26, 2023
in Article
Where the government draws the line for Medicaid coverage leaves out many older Americans who may need help paying for medical and long-term care bills – new research
Many older people with health insurance coverage through Medicare still can’t afford the care they need. RichLegg/E+ via Getty Images

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

Table of Contents

  • The big idea
  • Why it matters
  • What still isn’t known

The big idea

Medicaid, which provides low-income Americans with health insurance coverage, currently excludes large numbers of adults over 65 with social, health and financial profiles similar to those of people the program does cover. Based on a study we conducted, we determined that if strict eligibility rules for Medicaid were changed to help cover such people, from 700,000 to 11.5 million people over 65 would be newly eligible for the program.

We analyzed data from the 2018 Health and Retirement Study, a large national survey of older adults conducted by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan every two years, to determine how using five different financial eligibility criteria would increase the number of older adults who would qualify for Medicaid and what they would look like.

Depending on which rules were changed, we would expect to see one of the following scenarios:

  • If the government switched from the official poverty measurement Medicaid uses – currently an annual income of US$14,580 for one person – to its more accurate supplemental one, which takes taxes, health care costs and certain other expenses into account, about 700,000 more older Americans would get Medicaid coverage.

  • If the amount of assets that people can have were in line with other programs, such as the Medicare Savings Plan, an additional 1.4 million people would qualify. Medicare Savings Programs help pay Medicare costs for older adults with limited income and savings.

  • If Medicaid stopped considering assets altogether, an additional 2 million would qualify.

  • If the income eligibility threshold were higher, equal to 138% of the federal poverty level, it would mirror how the government determines whether adults under 65 can get Medicaid, and 4.7 million more older people could be covered by the program.

  • A measure that’s increasingly used to evaluate the vulnerability of older adults is the Elder Index, which takes into account basic expenses like housing, health care and food. People over 65 with incomes that fall above the official poverty line but below the Elder Index are considered to be financially vulnerable. If the government used the Elder Index as a basis for Medicaid eligibility, 11.5 million additional older adults would qualify for the program.

Unless the government adopted the Elder Index approach, most of the additional enrollees in these scenarios would have poor health and few financial assets.

Why it matters

The extra Medicaid enrollment would be in addition to the 7.2 million older people already in the program.

All the people who would potentially qualify under these different eligibility standards are unable to shoulder even modest long-term care costs without public assistance aside from their Social Security benefits – one of the largest risks facing the over 70% of older adults who will have such needs. This risk persists in part because Medicare does not cover such needs.

Low-income adults who are excluded from Medicaid under existing criteria also face high health care costs that contribute to their financial insecurity. Researchers found that 1 in 5 Americans over 65 skipped, delayed or used less medical care or drugs because of financial constraints.

Increasing the number of low-income older people with both Medicaid and Medicare coverage would reduce their out-of-pocket health spending. That would make it easier for them to hang on to their modest savings and also enable them to expand their own caregiving options should they have high medical or long-term care expenses as they age.

What still isn’t known

Increasing the number of older people with Medicaid coverage would require more government funding, although the degree of extra spending would depend on which rules the government would change.

Based on the average cost per Medicaid user, our rough estimates suggest that the cost of expanding Medicaid coverage for older people in the first four of the five scenarios we considered would range between about $8 billion and about $51 billion per year. We could not provide an estimate for the Elder Index scenario because the profile of individuals brought into the program would be substantially different from the current Medicaid users, so the per-person costs would be harder to predict.

Accurately estimating these costs and the potential benefits for families and communities that would come from these changes would require additional research.

The Conversation

Marc Cohen receives funding from the National Council on Aging (NCOA).

Jane Tavares receives funding from the National Council on Aging

ShareTweetSharePin
Next Post
Long COVID: brain function still affected for some up to two years after infection – new research

Long COVID: brain function still affected for some up to two years after infection – new research

Most Read

What causes stuttering? A speech pathology researcher explains the science and the misconceptions around this speech disorder

What causes stuttering? A speech pathology researcher explains the science and the misconceptions around this speech disorder

December 15, 2022
morning back pain

Morning Again Ache Trigger Is Not the Mattress

October 11, 2021

4 steps to building a healthier relationship with your phone

January 28, 2025

Why Circadian Rhythms Matter for Your Health

July 30, 2024
lower back pain relief exercises

5 decrease again ache aid workouts

October 11, 2021
Nasal vaccines promise to stop the COVID-19 virus before it gets to the lungs – an immunologist explains how they work

Nasal vaccines promise to stop the COVID-19 virus before it gets to the lungs – an immunologist explains how they work

December 14, 2022
bleeding in gum

When The Bleeding in gum Is Severe ?

October 11, 2021
Good Night Sleep

6 Causes of Good Evening Sleep

October 11, 2021
3 years after legalization, we have shockingly little information about how it changed cannabis use and health harms

3 years after legalization, we have shockingly little information about how it changed cannabis use and health harms

October 15, 2021
Kick up your heels – ballroom dancing offers benefits to the aging brain and could help stave off dementia

Kick up your heels – ballroom dancing offers benefits to the aging brain and could help stave off dementia

January 3, 2023
Biden is getting prostate cancer treatment, but that’s not the best choice for all men − a cancer researcher describes how she helped her father decide

Biden is getting prostate cancer treatment, but that’s not the best choice for all men − a cancer researcher describes how she helped her father decide

May 20, 2025
Ten small changes you can make today to prevent weight gain

Ten small changes you can make today to prevent weight gain

October 12, 2021

COVID vaccines: how one can pace up rollout in poorer international locations

October 5, 2021

Maximize Your Performance – Sync with Your Circadian Rhythms

August 9, 2024
Five ways to avoid pain and injury when starting a new exercise regime

Five ways to avoid pain and injury when starting a new exercise regime

December 30, 2022

This Simple Hygiene Habit Could Cut Your Risk of Stroke, New Research Reveals

February 1, 2025

Multiple sclerosis: the link with earlier infection just got stronger – new study

October 12, 2021
Support and collaboration with health-care providers can help people make health decisions

Support and collaboration with health-care providers can help people make health decisions

December 16, 2021
Greece to make COVID vaccines mandatory for over-60s, but do vaccine mandates work?

Greece to make COVID vaccines mandatory for over-60s, but do vaccine mandates work?

December 1, 2021
woman covered with white blanket

Exploring the Impact of Sleep Patterns on Mental Health

August 4, 2024
Nurses’ attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination for their children are highly influenced by partisanship, a new study finds

Nurses’ attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination for their children are highly influenced by partisanship, a new study finds

December 2, 2022
News of war can impact your mental health — here’s how to cope

Binge-eating disorder is more common than many realise, yet it’s rarely discussed – here’s what you need to know

December 2, 2022
FDA limits access to COVID-19 vaccine to older adults and other high-risk groups – a public health expert explains the new rules

FDA limits access to COVID-19 vaccine to older adults and other high-risk groups – a public health expert explains the new rules

May 21, 2025
As viral infections skyrocket, masks are still a tried-and-true way to help keep yourself and others safe

As viral infections skyrocket, masks are still a tried-and-true way to help keep yourself and others safe

December 14, 2022
GPs don’t give useful weight-loss advice – new study

GPs don’t give useful weight-loss advice – new study

December 16, 2022
Four ways to avoid gaining weight over the festive period – but also why you shouldn’t fret about it too much

Four ways to avoid gaining weight over the festive period – but also why you shouldn’t fret about it too much

December 22, 2022
Nutrition advice is rife with misinformation − a medical education specialist explains how to tell valid health information from pseudoscience

Nutrition advice is rife with misinformation − a medical education specialist explains how to tell valid health information from pseudoscience

January 28, 2025
How hot is too hot for the human body? Our lab found heat + humidity gets dangerous faster than many people realize

How hot is too hot for the human body? Our lab found heat + humidity gets dangerous faster than many people realize

July 6, 2022
How regulatory agencies, not the courts, are imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates

How regulatory agencies, not the courts, are imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates

October 24, 2021
The promise of repairing bones and tendons with human-made materials

The promise of repairing bones and tendons with human-made materials

January 4, 2022
  • Home
  • Health & Wellness
  • Disclaimer

© 2020 DAILY HEALTH NEWS

  • Home
  • Health & Wellness
  • Disclaimer
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • DMCA Notice

© 2020 DAILY HEALTH NEWS