Few employers supply retiree well being advantages, and people who do more and more are turning to Medicare Benefit plans to supply that protection – a shift that has implications each for retirees and for federal spending, finds a brand new KFF evaluation.
Among the many comparatively small share of huge corporations (200 or extra staff) that provide retiree well being advantages to Medicare-age retirees, half (50%) present these advantages by a Medicare Benefit plan in 2022, based on the evaluation of information from the 2022 KFF Employer Well being Advantages Survey. That’s up from 26 % in 2017.
Beneath this method, employers contract with a Medicare Benefit personal insurer that gives all Medicare-covered advantages along with supplemental advantages, somewhat than different approaches, reminiscent of offering supplemental protection that wraps round conventional Medicare.
Simply 13 % of huge employers supply retiree well being advantages to Medicare-age retirees in 2022, the evaluation finds. It additionally finds that:
- Amongst bigger employers with 1,000 or extra staff that provide retiree well being advantages by a Medicare Benefit plan, the most typical motive the employer elected this selection was the decrease price.
- About 44 % of huge employers providing Medicare Benefit protection to their retirees give them no alternative however to obtain their advantages by a Medicare Benefit plan, somewhat than give them a alternative between Medicare Benefit and non-Medicare Benefit choices.
The shift to Medicare Benefit has implications for retirees. On the one hand, this method might assist retirees if it permits employers to take care of and even broaden retiree well being advantages somewhat than cut back and even terminate protection. Alternatively, it has the potential to limit retirees’ entry to docs and hospitals for Medicare-covered companies, relying on the plan’s supplier community, and topic retirees to utilization administration instruments, reminiscent of prior authorization, that will restrict entry to Medicare-covered companies.
The rising variety of massive employers selecting Medicare Benefit for his or her Medicare-eligible retirees additionally has implications for federal spending as a result of Medicare spends extra per particular person for enrollees in Medicare Benefit plans (together with in group plans) than for beneficiaries lined by conventional Medicare.
For the complete evaluation and different information and analyses about Medicare Benefit, go to kff.org.