Coverage Implications of Policies to Lower the Age of Medicare Eligibility

A new KFF analysis shows that lowering the age of Medicare eligibility to 60 could improve the affordability of coverage for people who are already insured and expand coverage to over a million of the nation’s 30 million uninsured. Such a policy could provide a path to Medicare coverage for up to 11.7 million people with employer-based insurance and 2.4 million with private, non-group coverage who are ages 60 to 64, although it is unclear how many would take up such coverage. Another 1.6 million people age 60-64 are uninsured and would be eligible for Medicare coverage under such a policy. (News Release, Issue Brief)