Chapter 3 examines Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs). People who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid may be eligible to receive Medicaid assistance with their Medicare premiums and cost sharing through MSPs. The Commission has had a longstanding interest in MSPs because of their potential to improve access to care for low-income Medicare beneficiaries. The chapter provides an overview of the MSPs, and then discusses MACPAC’s prior work analyzing participation rates in the programs, including prior Commission recommendations aimed at improving participation in the MSPs.
The chapter concludes with a new analysis of enrollment trends, including comparisons across MSPs and enrollment trends by demographic characteristics including age, sex, and urban or rural residence. In 2021, around 80 percent of dually eligible beneficiaries, or about 10 million people, were enrolled in an MSP. These findings indicate that state and federal efforts over the last decade to increase awareness of the MSPs among eligible low-income Medicare beneficiaries may have achieved their intended goals and have made substantial progress.
From: June 2024 Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP