How Many Seniors Are Living in Poverty? National and State Estimates Under the Official and Supplemental Poverty Measures in 2016 Payments from Social Security and Supplemental Security Income have played a critical role in enhancing economic security and reducing poverty rates among people ages 65 and older. Yet many older adults live on limited incomes and have modest savings. In 2016, half of all people on Medicare had incomes less than $26,200. This analysis provides current data on poverty rates among the 49.3 million seniors in the U.S. in 2016, as context for understanding the implications of potential changes to federal and state programs that help to bolster financial security among older adults. The. U.S. Census Bureau currently reports two different measures of poverty: the official poverty measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). Unlike the official poverty measure, the SPM reflects available financial
below 200% of poverty under the SPM in 2016 (42.4%), compared to 15 million (30.4%) under the official measure. Under both the official measure and the SPM, the poverty rate among people ages 65 and older increased with age and was higher for women, blacks and Hispanics, and people in relatively poor health. Under the SPM, 4.4 million older women lived in poverty in 2016, 1.5 million more than under the official measure; 2.8 million older men lived in poverty under the SPM, 1.1 resources and liabilities, number) of older adults who are million more than under the including taxes, the value of in- struggling financially is larger official measure. kind benefits (e.g., food stamps), than is conveyed by the official Under the SPM, at least 15% of and out-of-pocket medical poverty measure. people ages 65 and older lived spending (generally higher Key Findings in poverty in 10 states (CA, among older adults), and Under the SPM, 7.1 million FL, GA, HI, IN, LA, NJ, NM, geographic variations in housing adults ages 65 and older lived TX, and VA) plus Washington, costs. This analysis presents in poverty in 2016 (14.5%), D.C. in 2016; under the official national and state estimates of compared to 4.6 million (9.3%) poverty measure, only D.C. poverty under both measures for under the official poverty had a poverty rate above 15% adults ages 65 and older. Current measure (Figure 1). for older adults in 2016. estimates of poverty based on the Nearly 21 million people ages SPM indicate that the share (and 65 and older had incomes
CMS Proposes Additional Medicare Advantage Flexibilities in 2019 Call Letter
This week, the Medicare Rights Center submitted comments in response to the Advance Notice of Methodological Changes for Calendar Year 2019 for the Medicare Advantage CMS-HCC Risk Adjustment Model and Call Letter (Call Letter). The Call Letter outlines CMS’s payment and policy strategies for upcoming plan years. As in years past, Medicare Rights provided comprehensive comments and feedback, highlighting the concerns and issues beneficiaries tell us about on the helpline every day.
This year, many of the proposed changes involved allowing Medicare Advantage Plans more flexibility – in the ways they communicate with beneficiaries, in setting up cost sharing structures to incentivize certain behaviors, and in offering additional benefits. While many of these flexibilities could be used to benefit enrollees, we are concerned that these changes would be more likely to cause confusion; increase risks associated with mistakes; and potentially make it more difficult for CMS and others to evaluate differences between plans. Already, people with Medicare Advantage can find it difficult to understand what plan is the right choice for their circumstances. Piling on additional options does
not lead to more informed choice without some very specific informational resources. We encourage to CMS to move forward in a way that ensures people with Medicare have the resources and tools they need to make informed, timely choices. CMS also proposed some changes that Medicare Rights urges them to abandon. For example, CMS proposes to remove one component of the Star Rating score on how well a plan handles appeals and how frequently it issues improper denials. That component reflects beneficiary experiences with the plan. While plans suffer other negative consequences, like financial penalties, for poor beneficiary experiences,
Medicare Rights believes eliminating such experiences from the Star Rating, which beneficiaries are much more likely to interact with and rely upon when choosing a plan, might mislead beneficiaries into thinking a poorly performing plan is the best choice for them. Read our comments here.
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