Medicare Beneficiaries With Dual Sources of Coverage

Abstract:     
Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly and the disabled, is facing an impending financial crisis, as the expected outlays from the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund are estimated to surpass the projected revenues beginning in 2007. However, the benefits offered to Medicare beneficiaries are typically less generous than benefits the nonelderly (under age 65) receive in their health plans. For example, Medicare does not cover outpatient prescription drugs and has relatively high deductibles for hospitalizations. Consequently, many Medicare beneficiaries also have a supplemental source of health care coverage. The sources of this supplemental coverage are a former employer or a spouse's former employer, a "Medigap" policy purchased by individuals through a private insurance company, or a public program such as Medicaid, the federal-state government program for the poor. This Notes article examines the trend in the number and percentage of noninstitutionalized elderly Medicare beneficiaries with these additional sources of coverage from 1994 to 1998.

The PDF for the above title, published in the February 2000 issue of EBRI Notes, also contains the fulltext of another February 2000 EBRI Notes article abstracted on SSRN: "Retirement Annuity and Employment-Based Pension Income."

Number of Pages in PDF File: 16

Keywords: Health insurance coverage, Medicare

JEL Classification: I1,J1

Accepted Paper Series