State expands Medicare savings for seniors
Seniors who earn up to 165% of the federal poverty level, or up to about
Currently, seniors earning up to to 135% of the federal poverty level, or
Gov.
Funding for the program will increase to
"This will have a really big impact on seniors' lives," said
Villers said advocates hope to expand the savings programs even further, backing a proposal to raise the eligibility to 200% of the federal poverty level over the next three years.
The Baker administration said the changes will reduce eligible seniors' medical costs by thousands of dollars a year and help ease a "cliff" that low-income seniors now face when they turn 65 and age out of state-subsidized health insurance.
Roughly a third of low-income seniors in
At least 13 other states have taken similar steps to expand eligibility for the Medicare savings programs, according to the
Nationally spending on health care for seniors has been increasing for decades and accounted for 34% of all health care expenditures in 2014, according to the
Health care spending for people 65 and older was nearly
Out-of-pocket spending for those 65 and older was also higher than other age groups, at
State lawmakers also gave a green light to portions of Baker's plan to reduce prescription drug costs through MassHealth, the state's Medicaid program that serves 1.8 million residents.
Under the plan, the
State officials expect the changes will save
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