A new Kaiser Family Foundation report reveals that income and assets for people with Medicare have slightly improved in the last year, not adjusting for inflation, though they are still far lower than most people realize. Kaiser also projects that they will continue to improve in the next 16 years. That said, the income gap is projected to widen, and people with Medicare with incomes in the top 5 percent will see greater improvement than people in the bottom quartile.
In 2014, half of all people with Medicare have annual incomes under $24,150 (up from $23,795 in 2013, adjusted for inflation to 2014 dollars) and only one in 20 of them had incomes above $93,000. One in four have incomes under $14,350.
Race and ethnicity, age and gender continue to matter when it comes to income. White people with Medicare have substantially higher median incomes than Blacks and Hispanics. Median income of White people with Medicare is more than double that of Hispanics, $27,450 as compared to $12,800, and about two-thirds higher than Blacks with Medicare, $16,150.
People between the ages of 65 and 74 have far higher median incomes, $29,700 than other age cohorts of people with Medicare. People with disabilities under 65 have the lowest median income at $17,050. People 85 and older have median incomes that are also quite low, at $18,850.
Marital status also matters significantly when it comes to income. Median income for individuals who are married is at $28,300, almost double that of single individuals at $14,450.
For more information from the Kaiser Family Foundation on wealth of people with Medicare, click here. For an interactive tool breaking down income and assets based on education levels and more, click here.
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