Medicare - Statistics & Facts
Statistics and facts about Medicare
Medicare is a federal social insurance program and was introduced in 1965. Its aim is to provide health insurance to older and disabled people. In 2014, 16 percent of all people in the United States were covered by Medicare. Unlike Medicaid, Medicare is not bound to lower incomes or a certain state of poverty. There are, however, a significant number of people who meet the criteria to participate in both programs.
In 2015, around 56 million people were enrolled in the Medicare program. Nearly 47 million of them were beneficiaries for reasons of age, while approximately nine million were beneficiaries due to various disabilities. The U.S. states with the highest percentage of Medicare beneficiaries among their populations were West Virginia and Maine, where almost a quarter of the population was enrolled. With over 5.6 million, California was the state with the highest number of Medicare beneficiaries.
The United States spent some 550 billion U.S. dollars on the Medicare program in 2012. Since Medicare is divided into several parts, Medicare Part A and Part B were responsible by far for the largest share of spending. Hospital inpatient services – as included in Part A - were the service type which alone made up more than a quarter of total Medicare spending. In 2009, an average of 4,847 U.S. dollars was spent on hospital care per Medicare enrollee.
Medicare, however, has also significant income, which amounted to some 600 billion U.S. dollars in 2014. It is estimated that almost 80 percent of this income was generated by general revenue and payroll taxes. Other sources of income are beneficiary premiums, state payments, social security benefit taxations, and interests.
A look into Medicare’s future shows us that total outlays are expected to grow to more than one trillion U.S. dollars within the next six years. That would be 4.3 percent of the United States’ gross domestic product, compared to 3.6 percent today. By 2020, about 64 million people are expected to be enrolled in Medicare.
Picture: Medicare
| Overview | Values | Statistic |
|---|---|---|
| Medicare's share of U.S. health care expenditure | 19.9% | Details → |
| Percentage of U.S. Americans covered by Medicare | 16.3% | Details → |
| Total Medicare income | $529.9bn | Details → |
| Total Medicare assets at year-end | $265.3bn | Details → |
| Projected medicare enrollment by 2050 | 92.8m | Details → |
| Spending | Values | Statistic |
|---|---|---|
| Total Medicare spending | $638.1bn | Details → |
| Average Medicare household spending on health care | $4,722 | Details → |
| Medicare spending per enrollee is highest in New Jersey | $11,903 | Details → |
| Enrollment/Beneficiaries | Values | Statistic |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment in Medicare program due to age | 46.8m | Details → |
| Medicare beneficiaries in California | 5,644,384 | Details → |
| Infrastructure | Values | Statistic |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Medicare hospital facilities in the U.S. | 6,142 | Details → |
| Total number of Medicare hospital beds in the U.S. | 931,057 | Details → |
- Medicare level of beneficiaries by type of beneficiary 1966-2015
+Medicare level of beneficiaries by type of beneficiary 1966-2015Enrollment in the Medicare program from 1966 to 2015, by type of beneficiary (in millions)
- Forecasted change in Medicare enrollment 2000-2050+Forecasted change in Medicare enrollment 2000-2050
Projected change in Medicare enrollment from 2000 to 2050
- Total Medicare spending 1970-2015Total Medicare spending 1970-2015
Total Medicare spending from 1970 to 2015 (in billion U.S. dollars)*
