Medicare-Covered Older Adults Are Satisfied with Their Coverage, Have Similar Access to Care as Privately-Insured Adults Ages 50 to 64, And Fewer Report Cost-Related Problems

(By Nancy Ochieng, Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, Karyn Schwartz, and Tricia Neuman for Kaiser Family Foundation published May 17, 2021)

High and rapidly growing health care spending in the U.S. is a concern for consumers, employers, tax payers and policy makers. The relatively high prices paid by private insurers is one of the key factors fueling this trend, leading some policy makers to consider whether Medicare rates, or a multiple of Medicare rates, should be used to help control costs and address affordability concerns for people with private insurance. President Biden, for example, proposed during the campaign to establish a “public option” and reduce the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 60 to broaden coverage and lower costs. Democratic lawmakers in Congress have proposed similar legislation to provide more affordable health coverage by leveraging Medicare’s lower provider payment rates. However, some question whether a shift toward Medicare provider payment rates might adversely affect access to care and affordability for people who gain or change coverage under these options.  Continue reading the brief here…

Notice: The link provided above connects readers to the full content of the posted article. The URL (internet address) for this link is valid on the posted date; medicarereport.org cannot guarantee the duration of the link’s validity. Also, the opinions expressed in these postings are the viewpoints of the original source and are not explicitly endorsed by AMAC, Inc.; the AMAC Foundation, Inc.; or medicarereport.org