Changes in Spending and Use of Services after Becoming Dually Eligible for Medicare and Medicaid

In any given year, about 1 million people become dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, based on their age or disability and low income. Given the high cost and often complex care needs of dually eligible beneficiaries, a key question for policymakers is how the transition from Medicaid or Medicare to dual eligibility affects spending and use of health care services. This issue brief quantifies changes in utilization and spending and identifies differences in those patterns based on whether beneficiaries were Medicaid or Medicare beneficiaries first and then became dually eligible.