JustCare

Tag: Medicare

  • Medicare prescription drug costs falling

    Medicare prescription drug costs falling

    Medicare prescription drug costs are falling. Drug spending has dropped significantly, largely because of a loss of patent protection for several commonly used high-cost drugs and fewer than projected brand-name drugs being introduced into the market.
    A new report from the Congressional Budget Office further explains that far fewer people have enrolled in Part D than originally projected.  As a result, Medicare drug spending in 2013 was $50 billion, about half of what the CBO projected in 2003.In 2013, there were 39 million enrollees in the Part D drug program, 12 percent fewer than projected ten years before.

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    For CMS data on Medicare drug spending in 2013, click here.

  • Should you pay more for Medicare than you do now?

    Should you pay more for Medicare than you do now?

    Raising Medicare premiums will save the government money but could hurt millions of people with Medicare.
    Lawmakers are looking for ways to cut down government spending on Medicare.  Many of them are proposing that more people with Medicare pay a higher monthly premium. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, if federal law changes, many people with Medicare will pay a lot more each month for their health care.

    Today, only a small percentage of people with Medicare pay higher premiums for their medical care (5 percent) and for their drug coverage (4 percent). That’s because right now, only people who earn $85,000 or more and couples who earn $170,000 or more pay higher premiums.  Today, you might be surprised to know that half of all people with Medicare have incomes below $23,500 and one in four have incomes below $14,400.

    If the new proposals became law, one in four people with Medicare (25 percent) would pay higher premiums for their medical care by 2036, starting at incomes of $45,600 for individuals and $91,300 for couples. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this change would cut federal spending by $56.3 billion dollars in the next ten years starting in 2014.

    Asking middle-class Americans to pay more for Medicare than they do today may mean forcing them to go without needed care.  People with incomes as low as $45,600 are at risk of not being able to pay these higher premiums, especially if they must spend a lot on health care that Medicare does not cover.  Even today, if they have high health care costs or other costly needs, they often struggle to afford care that Medicare does not cover.

    Click here to read the full article.

  • Medicare outpatient hospital care may not be what you think it is

    Medicare outpatient hospital care may not be what you think it is

    Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

    Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, andnews about the economy

    For financial reasons, hospitals around the country are increasingly classifying overnight hospital stays for people with Medicare—even stays that last more than three days—as outpatient visits.  The problem is that unless the hospital treats you as a hospital inpatient, Medicare will not cover your skilled nursing facility care post-hospitalization.  And, the hospital often has the discretion to classify even lengthy stays as Medicare outpatient hospital care.

  • People with Medicare are paying less for their drugs

    People with Medicare are paying less for their drugs

    People with Medicare are paying less for their drugs. The US Department of Health and Human Services just reported $11.5 billion dollars in prescription drug savings for 8.2 million older adults and people with disabilities since 2010.  Sylvia Burwell, HHS Secretary, credits the Affordable Care Act for these savings. People with Medicare are saving more and more on their prescription drugs since passage of the ACA.  The average savings is $1407 as a result of drug discounts for people without coverage in the Part D prescription drug “donut hole” and drug rebates.  For a state by state breakdown of savings, click here.
    Overall, drug savings are up $4.5 billion since last year.  Drug savings will continue to grow over the next six years until the donut hole closes in 2020.
  • Medicare costs expected to be less than originally projected

    Medicare costs expected to be less than originally projected

    According to an analysis of new Congressional Budget Office data by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicare is expected to spend an average of $1,000 less this year than originally projected on each person with Medicare, $11,328.  That’s a total of $50 billion less in 2014.

    By 2019, projected reductions in Medicare spending are expected to be an average of $2,400 for each person with Medicare, $12,545, down from a projection of $14,319.  That means Medicare’s total costs will be $120 billion less than what the budget folks in Washington expected.

    It’s still hard to know exactly why Medicare is seeing lower costs than originally expected but there are some theories.  For one, unnecessary hospital readmissions are dropping.  Health care reform incentivized hospitals to ensure Medicare patients get appropriate care when they are first hospitalized. If they need to be readmitted because of inappropriate care received on their first visit, hospitals are penalized financially.

  • Americans are more satisfied with Medicare than with private insurance

    Americans are more satisfied with Medicare than with private insurance

    According to a new Gallup poll, people with government-provided health insurance, including people with Medicare and VA coverage, are more satisfied with their health care coverage than other Americans.  Almost four out of five people 65 and older are satisfied with their treatment by the health care system (79 percent of people with Medicare, Medicaid and VA coverage) as compared with about three out of five people between 18 and 45 (61-66 percent).
    More specifically, people without health insurance are the least satisfied with the health care system (36 percent). People with military or veterans coverage are the most satisfied (77 percent) and people with Medicare or Medicaid are the next most satisfied (76 percent).

    For this survey, Gallup was not able to separate out satisfaction rates for people newly insured in the health insurance exchanges.  They plan to do so in future polls as soon as practicable.

    The survey also does not speak to the reasons why people over 65 are more satisfied with the health care system than the rest of the population.  Joe Baker, president of the Medicare Rights Center, speculates it’s because Medicare and Medicaid coverage are easier to use than private insurance and in most cases provides better protection against financial risk.  “For sure, Congress can improve Medicare.  But, compared with the hassles of referrals and huge copays and deductibles with private insurance, Medicare is relatively simple.”

     

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