On its 50th anniversary, more than 55 million Americans covered by Medicare

CMS NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 28, 2015

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On its 50^th anniversary, more than 55 million Americans covered by Medicare

New Medicare state-by-state enrollment numbers

 

As Medicare and Medicaid celebrate their 50th anniversary protecting the health and well-being of millions of seniors, people with disabilities and low-income individuals, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today released updated Medicare state-by-state enrollment numbers, showing that more than 55 million Americans are covered by Medicare.

 

In 1966, approximately 19.1 million Americans were covered by Medicare. In 2012, there were nearly 52 million beneficiaries covered by Medicare. Today’s enrollment numbers represent a three million person increase during the last three years as the Baby Boom generation has started to retire. Medicare beneficiaries depend on the program to provide critical health services such as preventive services, including flu shots and diabetes screenings, hospital stays, lab tests and critical supplies like wheelchairs and prescription drugs.

 

"Over the last 50 years, Medicare has become part of the fabric of our communities, protecting the well-being and financial security of millions of American families as they age or if they become disabled. In doing so, Medicare has kept up with dramatic demographic changes and led the charge toward improving health care delivery," said Andy Slavitt, CMS acting administrator. "As we preserve and advance Medicare for future generations, we are focused on helping build a better system with smarter spending that keeps people healthier."

 

CMS also releases state-by-state Medicaid enrollments on a monthly basis. As of May 2015, over 71.6 million individuals were enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) with 12.8 million more gaining coverage since 2013. More information is available on Medicaid.gov.

 

The chart below outlines enrollment as of May 2015 in Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage and Part D (prescription drug plans):

 

	Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage			Part D
State	Medicare Parts A and/or B	Medicare Advantage1	Total	Stand-Alone Prescription Drug Plan	Medicare Advantage with Prescription Drug Coverage	Total
Alabama	714,475	246,373	960,848	452,298	229,424	681,722
Alaska	82,292	665	82,957	32,649	465	33,114
Arizona	685,835	433,055	1,118,890	383,601	414,757	798,358
Arkansas	469,450	121,903	591,353	298,282	105,044	403,326
California	3,246,443	2,354,920	5,601,363	2,067,831	2,227,601	4,295,432
Colorado	486,962	290,466	777,428	278,220	270,140	548,360
Connecticut	465,754	161,781	627,535	317,170	151,704	468,874
Delaware	163,003	15,077	178,080	115,989	12,163	128,152
District of Columbia	76,076	11,735	87,811	38,777	11,033	49,810
Florida	2,367,608	1,601,277	3,968,885	1,401,435	1,518,812	2,920,247
Georgia	1,023,363	480,178	1,503,541	611,803	456,095	1,067,898
Hawaii	130,226	112,326	242,552	61,779	108,148	169,927
Idaho	186,352	91,711	278,063	104,739	81,022	185,761
Illinois	1,585,563	472,008	2,057,571	1,051,092	385,676	1,436,768
Indiana	867,439	274,477	1,141,916	597,766	225,331	823,097
Iowa	482,104	86,749	568,853	358,169	71,192	429,361
Kansas	416,622	67,545	484,167	277,987	58,803	336,790
Kentucky	631,252	226,064	857,316	456,903	173,808	630,711
Louisiana	547,162	239,874	787,036	339,349	230,597	569,946
Maine	234,647	69,616	304,263	149,639	63,669	213,308
Maryland	842,226	81,163	923,389	475,626	68,903	544,529
Massachusetts	948,839	261,433	1,210,272	578,654	238,763	817,417
Michigan	1,263,405	622,116	1,885,521	1,086,223	365,255	1,451,478
Minnesota	416,680	489,099	905,779	391,006	286,560	677,566
Mississippi	472,274	84,720	556,994	316,868	75,485	392,353
Missouri	804,245	324,780	1,129,025	527,833	299,985	827,818
Montana	162,736	36,852	199,588	91,322	34,763	126,085
Nebraska	271,448	39,218	310,666	185,386	31,687	217,073
Nevada	296,171	149,826	445,997	150,293	144,634	294,927
New Hampshire	244,219	20,067	264,286	148,826	14,996	163,822
New Jersey	1,252,414	233,355	1,485,769	876,915	183,598	1,060,513
New Mexico	251,323	117,883	369,206	143,187	112,227	255,414
New York	2,077,589	1,251,906	3,329,495	1,384,028	1,151,552	2,535,580
North Carolina	1,221,482	529,303	1,750,785	786,481	483,175	1,269,656
North Dakota	98,440	19,871	118,311	78,232	5,068	83,300
Ohio	1,241,692	898,626	2,140,318	1,035,905	598,792	1,634,697
Oklahoma	557,128	116,649	673,777	342,071	100,146	442,217
Oregon	414,968	330,468	745,436	243,883	295,092	538,975
Pennsylvania	1,501,476	1,018,209	2,519,685	1,035,656	842,655	1,878,311
Rhode Island	130,451	71,751	202,202	81,821	68,980	150,801
South Carolina	708,740	219,934	928,674	452,710	201,873	654,583
South Dakota	125,660	29,233	154,893	93,950	10,875	104,825
Tennessee	797,583	426,921	1,224,504	504,231	399,407	903,638
Texas	2,436,297	1,159,610	3,595,907	1,552,590	919,046	2,471,636
Utah	224,070	116,912	340,982	120,665	110,507	231,172
Vermont	120,557	10,024	130,581	86,007	8,494	94,501
Virginia	1,082,620	255,307	1,337,927	613,006	214,850	827,856
Washington	819,681	356,870	1,176,551	427,326	308,397	735,723
West Virginia	301,883	113,220	415,103	199,348	89,221	288,569
Wisconsin	645,149	397,405	1,042,554	421,147	301,225	722,372
Wyoming	90,820	3,678	94,498	56,075	2,304	58,379
American Samoa	4,174	238	4,412	351	225	576
Guam	14,764	63	14,827	3,026	54	3,080
Northern Mariana Islands	*	*	2,063	*	*	480
Puerto Rico	195,888	561,658	757,546	14,994	557,169	572,163
Virgin Islands	19,074	236	19,310	11,090	202	11,292
Pending State Designation	*	*	3,046	*	*	923
Foreign and Other Outlying Areas	422,200	4,014	426,214	7,589	3,445	11,034
Total	37,345,712	17,710,809	55,056,521	23,920,896	15,325,400	39,246,296

 

¹ The following organization types are included in the Medicare Advantage column: Local and Regional Coordinated Care Plans, Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) plans, Medical Savings Account (MSA) plans, Section 1876 Cost Contract plans, Section 1833 Health Care Prepayment (HCPP) plans, Chronic Care Plans, and Medicare-Medicaid Demonstration Plans.

 

* CMS is obligated by the federal Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. Section. 552a and the HIPAA Privacy Rule, 45 C.F.R Parts 160 and 164, to protect the privacy of individual beneficiaries and other persons. All direct identifiers have been removed from this data file. In addition, information is suppressed that is based upon fewer than eleven (11) beneficiaries in the population.