Friday, June 8, 2012

New Report Underscores the Importance of Having Coverage for Accessing Needed Health Care

A new report released by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), titled “Cost and Access Challenges: A Comparison of Experiences Between Uninsured and Privately Insured Adults Aged 55 to 64 with Seniors on Medicare,” finds that unsurprisingly, uninsured adults face significant difficulties accessing and affording needed health care. The report compares survey data on health care cost and access experiences of adults aged 55 to 64—with and without private insurance—and seniors with Medicare.

According to the report, over 41 percent of uninsured adults aged 55 to 64 postponed needed care in 2010, and almost all of these individuals attributed the reason to cost concerns. Compared to this population, a lower proportion of insured adults in the same age range and seniors with Medicare reported access and affordability issues. For instance, the uninsured adults surveyed had unmet medical needs or delayed seeking health care at three times the rate that Medicare seniors did. The report also finds that between 2003 and 2010, a higher proportion of both uninsured and insured adults surveyed have found it difficult to access care. In contrast, the share of Medicare seniors who experienced these accessibility problems did not change significantly.

According to the report, certain Medicare benefits protect older beneficiaries from experiencing difficulty accessing or affording care. For instance, a larger share of seniors without supplemental coverage reported having trouble paying their medical bills, compared to those with secondary insurance, such as employer-sponsored coverage, a Medigap, or Medicaid.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), beginning in 2014, uninsured adults will be able to purchase affordable insurance from state health exchanges. In the meantime, the law has mandated that states establish pre-existing condition plans for uninsured individuals; to date, adults aged 55 to 64 have been the largest enrollment group in those policies. Moreover, in 2014, those with limited incomes may become eligible for Medicaid due to expansion of this program or receive subsidies to purchase private insurance through the state exchanges. The KFF report cautions that limiting the implementation of the ACA or reducing Medicare benefits, such as by increasing the age of Medicare eligibility, could have serious cost and access implications for older Americans.

http://www.kff.org/medicare/8320.cfm

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