Medicare+Choice Study: The Disappearance of Medicare+Choice Would Hit Hard on Lower Income and Minority Beneficiaries


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April 30, 2002


Performed by: Kenneth E. Thorpe, Emory University
Sponsor: BCBSA

Nationwide, five million Medicare beneficiaries depend on Medicare+Choice to fill the gaps in Medicare benefits. A study by Kenneth Thorpe of Emory University looks at the income and ethnic characteristics of Medicare+Choice enrollees, and projects the coverage choices that enrollees would make if Medicare+Choice were no longer available: how many would buy a Medigap policy, how many would enroll in Medicaid, and how many would have Medicare only.

Key findings:

Medicare+Choice is the most popular choice of beneficiaries who do not have supplemental coverage through an employer or Medicaid.

  • 39 percent of Medicare beneficiaries who live in a county with a Medicare+Choice plan, and who do not have supplemental coverage through a private employer or Medicaid, are enrolled in Medicare+Choice.
  • Beneficiaries who are lower income, African American, or Hispanic are disproportionately enrolled in Medicare+Choice - and would be hardest hit by Medicare+Choice plan withdrawals. For example:
    • In Southern California, nearly 85 percent of eligible African American Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare+Choice.
    • In South Florida, 75 percent of eligible Hispanic beneficiaries and 58 percent of those earning less than $10,000 are enrolled in Medicare+Choice.
    • In Philadelphia, 67 percent of eligible beneficiaries earning between $10,000 and $20,000 a year are enrolled in Medicare+Choice.
    • In New York City, 47 percent of eligible beneficiaries earning less than $10,000 and 49 percent of eligible African Americans are enrolled on Medicare+Choice.

  • If Medicare+Choice were not available, 30 percent of Medicare+Choice enrollees, or 1.5 million beneficiaries, would be unable to afford Medigap, and would have Medicare only - exposing them, for example to Medicare's $812 hospital deductible.

  • 18 percent, or 900,000 beneficiaries, would seek Medicaid coverage, raising the ranks of Medicaid programs in counties that had Medicare+Choice plans by one third.

  • 52 percent of Medicare+Choice enrollees, or 2.6 million beneficiaries, would buy relatively more expensive Medigap policies.

  • In counties that have a Medicare+Choice plan, the number of African Americans with Medicare only would rise by 35 percent - three in every five African American beneficiaries would have no supplemental coverage.

  • The number of beneficiaries earning between $10,000 and $20,000 who buy relatively expensive Medigap policies would rise by 52 percent - one in every two beneficiaries earning $10,000 to $20,000 would be paying for Medigap.

Read Full Study


 



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