Improving Access and Affordability for Medicare Beneficiaries

In a new study (Health Affairs, Dec. 2015), researchers led by Cathy Schoen, executive director of The Commonwealth Fund’s Council of Economic Advisers, calculate that roughly 40 percent of low-income Medicare beneficiaries spent at least 20 percent of their income on premiums and medical expenses last year, while nearly one-third spent 10 percent or more on out-of-pocket expenses alone.