For Patients in Both Medicare and Medicaid, Care Is Inefficient and Costly

Kathryn Nix / July 07, 2011

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on bureaucratic barriers for patients covered by both Medicare and Medicaid. These two programs serve the elderly and the poor, respectively, and people who fall into both categories—the “dual-eligibles”—should get better-quality care with more efficient taxpayer spending.

According to the WSJ, an estimated 9.7 million Americans fall under the dually eligible criteria. They account for 16 percent of the Medicare population but 27 percent of Medicare spending, and 15 percent of Medicaid’s population but 39 percent of its spending. More efficient financing for this group is essential to reining in spending on both entitlement programs. (more…)