Data

On Tuesday, May 30, CMS released the latest enrollment figures for Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP. As of February 2023, over 65.6 million people are enrolled in Medicare; nearly 34 million are enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare and more than 31.6 have a Medicare Advantage plan. Over 93.3 million enrollees have Medicaid and CHIP; more than 86.1 million individuals have Medicaid and nearly 7.2 million have coverage through CHIP. Over 12 million individuals are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid and are counted in the enrollment figures for both programs.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has published an article highlighting the representation of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander workers with disabilities in skilled trade professions. The analysis, conducted as part of the Biden-Harris Administration's Good Jobs Initiative, reveals that approximately 56,000 individuals from these communities, comprising 18%, are employed in skilled trade professions. The article explores various aspects, including common trade professions, age distributions by gender, primary industry sectors employing these workers, and wage disparities between disabled and non-disabled individuals across occupational categories.

The United States Senate has released a report titled "Uninspected & Neglected: Nursing Home Inspection Agencies are Severely Understaffed, Putting Residents at Risk." The report highlights the investigation conducted by the Majority staff, prompted by Chairman Casey's previous concerns regarding the Special Focus Facilities (SFF) program. Findings reveal that State agencies responsible for monitoring nursing homes’ are grappling with significant staffing shortages and insufficient funding, resulting in delayed inspections and potential harm to residents. The report addresses the historical awareness of these issues, the use of third-party contractors, the impact on quality ratings, the utilization of CARES Act funding during COVID-19.

The AARP has published an article analyzing the relationship between small business trends and the U.S. older workforce. It emphasizes the continued importance of small businesses as a significant source of employment for individuals aged 50 and older, despite the growing dominance of larger corporations. The article provides data on the employment landscape, highlighting the higher representation of older workers in smaller firms compared to larger ones. It also discusses how economic conditions and trends, including the impact of the pandemic, can influence employment opportunities for older workers in small businesses.

On Tuesday, March 28th, CMS released the latest enrollment figures for Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP. As of December 2022, over 65.2 million people are enrolled in Medicare; more than 35 million are enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare and over 30.2 have a Medicare Advantage plan. Over 91.3 million enrollees have Medicaid and CHIP; more than 84.3 million individuals have Medicaid and over seven million have coverage through CHIP. Over 12 million individuals are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid and are counted in the enrollment figures for both programs.

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) have released an updated data book which presents information on the demographic and other personal characteristics, expenditures, and health care utilization of individuals who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid coverage.

In 2017, Reading Hospital was awarded a $4.5 million grant from CMS to implement the Accountable Health Communities (AHC) model and assess whether addressing the health-related social needs of local Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries would impact their healthcare costs and inpatient and outpatient healthcare utilization. This case study looks at 747 patients with resolved food needs and finds that among this cohort, emergency department visits dropped 32%, hospital admissions decreased 32%, readmissions were reduced by 30%, and hospital costs went down 31%. Among the patients who were also on the Diabetes Registry, A1C rates decreased by an average of 2.2%

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) released the 2022 edition of the MACStats: Medicaid and CHIP Data Book, with updated data on national and state Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment, spending, benefits, and beneficiaries’ health, service use, and access to care. As of July 2022, almost 90 million people were enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP.

Since the early ninties the Eldercare Locator has connected older adults, caregivers, families, and professionals to local services that support healthy aging at home. This new infographic illustrates the top needs of individuals who contacted the Eldercare Locator in 2021. Requests were mostly related to transportation (22%), in-home services (12%) and housing (11%).

This new KFF brief finds that only 45% of all nursing facility residents and 22% of staff are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations. That is a sharp drop from the 87 percent of nursing facility residents and staff who completed their primary vaccination series. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently defines having up to date vaccines as “having received a bivalent booster or having received a final shot of the original vaccines less than two months ago.” The share of residents who are up to date ranged from 73 percent in South Dakota to 24 percent in Arizona. Among nursing home staff, the share ranged from 48 percent in California to 10 percent in Alabama.