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Medicare, Medicaid, and the Elderly Poor

Neighborhood features may be protective or harmful for health of persons once in old age. Given the rapidly aging population, and the potential economic and social benefits of having older persons age in place, understanding the effects of neighborhoods on the health of the elderly is important for the formulation of public policy. In this paper, we provide an overview of what is known about neighborhoods and health in late life and discuss the potential and challenges of using national survey data to study this topic. We begin with a theoretical model of how neighborhoods affect health throughout the. | Medicare Medicaid and the Elderly Poor Diane Rowland Sc.D. and Barbara Lyons Ph.D. INTRODUCTION One out of every five elderly- Americans faces each day on a limited income with little flexibility for extra or unexpected medical expenses. When medical care is needed these 6 million poor and near-poor elderly Americans depend on Medicare for assistance with their me dical bills. The universal coverage of Medicare assure s them entry to America s health care system and offers protection from financial catastrophe when illness strikes. However gaps in the scope of Medicare s benefits and financial obligations for coverage can result in onerous financial burdens. Low-income elderly people are particularly vulnerable because they are more likely to be experiencing health problems that require medical service s than those who are economically better off but are less able to afford needed care because of their lower incomes. Even routine care such as physician visits or prescription drugs can require older and poorer hen-eficiaries to make hard choices between basic necessities and needed health care services. Medicaid serves as an important complement to Medicare by assisting low-income Medicare beneficiaries with the ir Medicare premiums and cost-sharing and by providing coverage for pre scription drugs and long-term care LTC services that are not available through Medicare. Without Medicaid s assistance the costs of basic medical care can impede access to The authors are with the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation or the Health Care Financing Administration. care and erode financial security for low income elderly people. This article profiles the economic and health status of the low-income elderly population served by Medicare assesses the impact of Medicare and examines the role Medicaid plays as a supplement to Medicare. Particular emphasis .