Many Older Americans Needing Long-Term Supports Face Difficulty Paying for Basic Needs
A new analysis of spending by Medicare beneficiaries on long-term services and supports finds that millions of older U.S. adults with a high level of need report trouble paying for food, rent, utilities, medical care, and prescription drugs.
Until now, little was known about the full scope and consequences of the financial burden experienced by people who have functional or cognitive impairment and require long-term services and supports. The analysis, by Amber Willink and colleagues with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, finds that for medical services covered by Medicare, beneficiaries with a high need for long-term services spend more than $2,700 a year out of pocket on average, twice as high as those without such need. And these costs don’t include the share of premiums that beneficiaries — most of whom live on modest incomes — are also responsible for paying.
The new study follows on the heels of a Commonwealth Fund report released last week describing what services and supports older Medicare beneficiaries use in their homes and communities to manage day to day.
“Without an affordable, sustainable financing solution, Medicare beneficiaries with LTSS needs will continue to be at greater risk of delaying necessary care, being placed in a nursing home prematurely, and having to ‘spend down’ into the Medicaid program,” the authors conclude.
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