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Daily Archives: January 5, 2015

New Study Sheds Light on Which Seniors Are Driving the Rise in Medicare Advantage Enrollment

  • “A new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation counters the popular misperception that the steady rise in Medicare Advantage enrollment has been driven by members of the Baby Boom generation overwhelmingly choosing the private plans as they become eligible for Medicare.  Instead, the study finds that a majority of new enrollees in Medicare Advantage in each year were, in fact, seniors switching from traditional Medicare.  Less than one-quarter of people newly eligible for Medicare enrolled in Medicare Advantage from the outset, and they comprised less than half of all new Medicare Advantage enrollees each year between 2006 and 2011. Nonetheless, the study, published today in the journal Health Affairs, also finds that the share of seniors who switch between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage is relatively small, reinforcing the notion that most Medicare beneficiaries make a coverage choice and stick with it. The new analysis finds that:
  • A growing share of people newly eligible for Medicare – but still less than one in four – elected to be covered under Medicare Advantage plans instead of traditional Medicare, rising from 15 percent in 2006 to 22 percent in 2011;
  • In each year between 2006 and 2011, the majority of new Medicare Advantage enrollees were people who had switched from traditional Medicare;  seniors in their first few years on Medicare (in their late sixties) switched from traditional Medicare to Medicare Advantage at higher than average rates;
  • In each year between 2006 and 2011, fewer than 5 percent of traditional Medicare beneficiaries switched to Medicare Advantage, and a similar percentage of Medicare Advantage enrollees switched to traditional Medicare, suggesting that initial coverage decisions made by Medicare beneficiaries have long-lasting effects;
  • People dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid (“dual eligibles”) and Medicare beneficiaries under age 65 and disabled disenrolled from Medicare Advantage at higher than average rates, a trend worth exploring because these beneficiaries tend to have significant health care needs.

The analysis, At Least Half of New Medicare Advantage Enrollees Had Switched from Traditional Medicare During 2006-11, is available online. For more information on Medicare Advantage, visit kff.org.”

 

Statistics on payment, clearing and settlement systems in the CPMI countries – Figures for 2013

Bank for International Settlements: “This is an annual publication that provides data on payments and payment, clearing and settlement systems in the CPMI countries. This version of the statistical update contains data for 2013 and earlier years. There are detailed tables for each individual country as well as a number of comparative tables. A preliminary version was… Continue Reading

Big Data in Action for Development

“Data provide critical inputs in designing effective development policy recommendations, supporting their implementation, and evaluating results. In this new report “Big Data in Action for Development,” the World Bank Group collaborated with Second Muse, a global innovation agency, to explore big data’s transformative potential for socioeconomic development.  The report develops a conceptual framework to work… Continue Reading

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Listing the African Lion Subspecies as Threatened

This Proposed Rule document was issued by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) For related information, Open Docket Folder Action Proposed rule and 12-month finding. Due Jan 27 2015. Summary – “We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a proposed rule and a 12-month finding on a petition to list the African lion (Panthera leo leo) as… Continue Reading

Independence for young millennials: moving out and boomeranging back

BLS Monthly Labor Review – “Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, this article examines the process of household formation for young adults born between 1980 and 1984. The analysis finds that, by age 27, about 90 percent of these individuals had left their parental households at least once and more than… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – Human Capital, Social Security Disability Benefits

Human Capital: OPM Needs to Better Analyze and Manage Dual Compensation Waiver Data, GAO-15-252: Published: Dec 29, 2014. Publicly Released: Jan 5, 2015. Social Security Disability Benefits: Agency Could Improve Oversight of Representatives Providing Disability Advocacy Services, GAO-15-62: Published: Dec 3, 2014. Publicly Released: Jan 5, 2015. Continue Reading

Want read-aloud in Kindles and other readers? Use FCC’s easy online form by Jan 9 2015

Update to my posting New on LLRX – Tell the FCC to Require Read-Aloud for Future Kindles and Other E Ink Devices – via author David Rothman – the most recent version of the LibraryCity post with mention of an unofficial January 9, 2015 deadline and a link to the FCC’s easy comment form. You need to submit formally.  The… Continue Reading