Estimates of Potential Eligibility for Low-Income Subsidies Under Medicare Part D

Erik Meijer, Lynn A. Karoly, Pierre-Carl Michaud

ResearchPublished Apr 16, 2009

The 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act (Pub. L. No. 108-173) added a new prescription drug benefit to the Medicare program known as Part D (prescription drug coverage), as well as the Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) program to provide “extra help” with premiums, deductibles, and copayments for Medicare Part D beneficiaries with low income and limited assets. This analysis was designed to provide an independent estimate of the LIS-eligible population as of 2006, to examine the robustness of the estimate against alternative assumptions and estimation methods, to examine the characteristics of the LIS-eligible population, and to project the size of the LIS-eligible population to 2008. An estimated 12 million persons, or 29 percent of Medicare beneficiaries, were potentially eligible for the LIS in 2006 and most were eligible for the full subsidy. The eligibility rate is higher for the under-age-65 population and for those in nursing homes. There is considerable uncertainty around the estimated number of LIS eligibles, however, due to differences in the two main data sources employed, the Survey of Income and Program Participation and the Health and Retirement Study.

Topics

Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web-Only
  • Year: 2009
  • Pages: 190
  • Document Number: TR-686-SSA

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Meijer, Erik, Lynn A. Karoly, and Pierre-Carl Michaud, Estimates of Potential Eligibility for Low-Income Subsidies Under Medicare Part D. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2009. https://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR686.html.
BibTeX RIS

The research described in this report was sponsored by the Social Security Administration and was conducted by RAND Labor and Population, a division of the RAND Corporation.

This publication is part of the RAND technical report series. RAND technical reports, products of RAND from 2003 to 2011, presented research findings on a topic limited in scope or intended for a narrow audience; discussions of the methodology employed in research; literature reviews, survey instruments, modeling exercises, guidelines for practitioners and research professionals, and supporting documentation; and preliminary findings. All RAND technical reports were subject to rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.