Age-Friendly Health Series: July Issue on the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) Program

Health Affairs, as part of the Age-Friendly Health series, published the article "Qualified Medicare Beneficiary Program: Enrollment Trends And Characteristics Of Low-Income Beneficiaries". The authors analyze data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) from 2016 to 2022 to examine enrollment trends in the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) program and compare the characteristics of enrollees with those of eligible non-enrollees. The QMB enrollees were less likely than Medicare beneficiaries who were eligible but not enrolled to report delaying care because of cost or having problems paying for care. The article finds that additional policies and programs may be needed to increase QMB take-up and to improve health care access and affordability for low-income Medicare beneficiaries.

Read the article to learn more.