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DataPoint: Medicare Beneficiary Profile, 2017

In 2017, 12 percent of Medicare beneficiaries were age 85 and older, based on the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) Chartbook. The MCBS Chartbook includes demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of all Medicare beneficiaries nationwide. The 2017 MCBS indicates that 20 percent of those who received Medicare benefits lived in non-metro areas. Three percent of Medicare beneficiaries resided in a facility in 2017, while 1 percent resided in both the community and a facility. Among those residing only in facilities, 49 percent were at least age 85, while 13 percent of beneficiaries over age 85 resided in long term care (LTC) facilities.

Of the Medicare beneficiaries age 85 and older, 45 percent self-reported very good or excellent health, while 24 percent reported poor or fair health. The most common health conditions among Medicare beneficiaries were vision problems (100 percent), hypertension (63 percent), and high cholesterol (62 percent).

Overall utilization of skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) was 5 percent; for LTC nursing homes, utilization was 4 percent. The highest cost for LTC nursing home services was seen in the 65 to 74 population: $47,756 per user in 2017, compared to $48,649 in 2016.

The data is from the 2017 MCBS Annual Chartbook and Slides, available here. The Beneficiary Survey is a continuous survey of a nationally representative sample of the Medicare population that compiles expenditures and sources of payment for all services used by Medicare beneficiaries and traces outcomes over time.

Contact: Ken Allison, kallison@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8820