Posted on December 22, 2010 16:43
Categories: Medicare
Topics: Medicare | Seniors | Spending
On November 4, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released the Medicare Chartbook, 2010, offering an in-depth examination of the Medicare program. The chartbook provides demographic data of the program’s 47 million beneficiaries, explains the program’s benefits, and outlines Medicare’s spending data and financing mechanisms. KFF’s report also includes data on health service utilization rates, access to care, and out-of-pocket spending. The authors note that Medicare’s size and critical role in American health coverage will keep it at the forefront of health policy discussions for the foreseeable future.
From the report:
Medicare provides substantial health and financial security for 47 million elderly and disabled americans. medicare is a social insurance program, like social security, that offers health coverage to eligible individuals, regardless of income or health status. People pay into medicare throughout their working lives and generally become eligible for medicare when they reach age 65, although younger adults can also qualify if they have a permanent disability. Comprising approximately 15 percent of the federal budget and 20 percent of total national health spending in 2010 and a rising share of the nation’s gross domestic product (GdP), medicare is often a part of discussions related to the growth in federal spending and rising health care costs. With the dual challenges of providing needed and increasingly expensive medical care to an aging population and keeping the program financially secure for the future, the medicare program is likely to remain at the forefront of national policy discussions in the coming years.
Full Report: Medicaid Chartbook 2010 (PDF | 2.15 MB)
Kaiser Family Foundation. (2010). Medicaid chartbook 2010.
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