While in many ways Medicare is a critical guarantee of access to good affordable health care for older adults and people with disabilities, increasingly some enrollees find health care costs prohibitive. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports than more than one in three people with Medicare did not get health care in 2024 or delayed getting care because of the cost.
Thirty-six percent of people with Medicare find health care costs too expensive, even with Medicare. People with Medicare tend to live on smaller budgets than working people and need more health care. Medicare Part B premiums, which represent about 25 percent of the cost of the outpatient services Medicare Part B covers, eat into more than 10 percent of people’s income. And, these premiums are expected to rise in the next nine years from $2,100 a year to $4,000.
Medicare Savings Programs, paid for through Medicaid, pick up the cost of Part B and D premiums as well as other cost-sharing, depending upon a person’s income and assets. Of the nearly 66 million people with Medicare in 2024, about 10 million people are enrolled in these programs.
Many people with low incomes are not eligible for an MSP because their incomes are just over the threshold. Or, they are not enrolled, because they are unaware that they qualify for these programs. Moreover, the Trump Budget Act will make it more difficult to enroll, with the consequence that 1.3 million people are expected to lose this coverage.
KFF reports that about 25 percent of people with Medicare have incomes below $24,600 ini 2024. Fifty percent of people with Medicare have incomes below $43,200. Only five percent (33 million) have incomes about $169,700.
Most people with Medicare also have scant assets. One in four have savings below $19,000. Overall, one in four also have no home equity. Among Black and Hispanic people with Medicare, nearly half have no home equity.
Fifty percent of people with Medicare have savings below $110,100. About one in five Black and Hispanic people with Medicare have no assets or are in debt. Five percent have assets above $1.7 million.
Not surprisingly, older people with Medicare (85 and up) have lower incomes and savings than people under 85. Women have lower incomes and savings than men. Black and Hispanic people have lower incomes and savings than White people. People with disabilities under 65 with Medicare had lower incomes and assets than people over 65.
Here’s more from Just Care:
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- 2025: Planning for health care costs in retirement
- Roundup: Housing options for older adults
- Five steps to get your affairs in order in case of emergency
- Case study: Costco saves one couple hundreds of dollars over Medicare Part D
