The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released a report documenting the current state of coverage for the 4 million uninsured Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 in anticipation of a potential Medicare buy-in program in the Senate’s health care reform bill (HR 3590).  Because Senate Democrats have yet to release details of the proposal, which is not expected to be included in the final bill, the report does not present the potential effects of the program on the uninsured population.

From the report:

Recently, the idea of a Medicare buy-in has re-emerged in the Senate as a potential component of health reform legislation.2 To provide information about the population who might be eligible for a Medicare buy-in, this policy brief examines the health insurance status of adults ages 55 to 64, and the characteristics of those who are uninsured. This brief does not analyze the current Senate proposals for a buy-in, since specifications are not yet available. Rather, it describes current sources of health insurance and barriers to securing affordable coverage in the current marketplace and reviews key features of historical Medicare buy-in proposals and the implications of these features for improving health insurance coverage rates among adults ages 55 to 64.

Full report:  Health Insurance Coverage for Older Adults: Implications of a Medicare Buy-in (PDF | 650.82 KB)

Kaiser Family Foundation. (2009). Health insurance coverage for older adults: implications of a Medicare buy-in. Jacobson, G., Schwartz, K., & Neuman, T.