The Cost of Eliminating the 24-Month Medicare Waiting Period for Social Security Disabled-Worker Beneficiaries

Bibliographic Data

ID9104513
AuthorsGerald F Riley (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume42
Issue4
Pages387-394
Publication date2004-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMedical Care (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0025-7079 • E-ISSN: 1537-1948
PublisherOvid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1097/01.mlr.0000118873.10396.fc
PMID15076816
OpenAlexW1990197817
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited5

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to estimate the cost of eliminating the 24-month waiting period for Medicare entitlement for Social Security disabled-worker beneficiaries. There is concern that the waiting period could currently result in reduced access to health care. DATA: : The study linked Social Security and Medicare administrative records. METHODS: Social Security records were used to identify a 20% sample of disabled workers aged 61 or less and newly entitled to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) in 1995 (n = 105,328). These records were linked to Medicare enrollment and claims data for 1997-2000. Cost prediction models were developed from the linked data to predict monthly Medicare costs. The prediction models were then used to estimate what Medicare costs would have been in the first 24 months of SSDI entitlement if the waiting period had been eliminated. RESULTS: Among the sample of new SSDI entitlees in 1995, 11.8% died during the waiting period, 2.1% recovered, and 86.1% became entitled to Medicare. For the first 24 months of SSDI entitlement, Medicare costs were predicted to be 10,055 US dollars per disabled worker in year 2000 dollars. Costs varied substantially by diagnostic group and whether the person died or recovered during the waiting period. CONCLUSIONS: Extrapolating from the study sample, predicted Medicare costs for the 24-month waiting period were 5.3 billion US dollars (inflation-adjusted to year 2000 dollars) for all disabled workers aged 61 or less and newly entitled to SSDI in 1995

Actuarial science · Business · Disability insurance · Economics · Entitlement (fair division) · Health and Retirement Study · Sample (material) · Social security · Social Security Act · Waiting period · Demography · Global Health Care Issues · Healthcare Policy and Management · Medicine · Retirement, Disability, and Employment · Gerontology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub