Medicare Is the Best Health Insurance

Americans with Medicare coverage, the government's single-payer health insurance program for people aged 65 or older, rate their health care much more highly than everyone else. Among adults of all ages who have been to a health care provider in the past year, just over half (53 percent) give the quality of the care they received the highest rating—a 9 or 10 on a scale of 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest). Among people aged 65 or older, a much larger two-thirds give their health care the highest rating...

Percent rating their health care a 9 or 10 by age
Aged 18 to 44: 45.8%
Aged 45 to 64: 53.4%
Aged 65-plus: 64.6%

By type of health insurance, the results are the same. Those on Medicare are by far the ones most satisfied with the health care they receive...

Percent rating their health care a 9 or 10 by type of health insurance
Under age 65, uninsured: 40.4%
Under age 65, public only: 41.4%
Under age 65, any private: 52.1%
Aged 65-plus, Medicare only: 65.9%
Aged 65-plus, Medicare and private: 66.1%

Source: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2014 Quality of Care Tables

Who Likes Their Health Care?

How do Americans rate their health care? It depends on their health insurance status. The percentage who give the health care they received in the past year the highest rating (a 9 or 10 on a scale of 0 to 10) ranges from a low of 37 percent among people without health insurance to a high of more than 60 percent among people on Medicare.

Because health insurance coverage depends on age, how people feel about their health care varies greatly by age. Young adults under age 26, many covered by their parents' health insurance thanks to the Affordable Care Act, have a higher opinion of the health care they received than those aged 26 to 34—the age group most likely to be uninsured. People aged 65 or older, universally covered by Medicare, are the ones most impressed with their health care.

Percent rating their health care a 9 or 10
18 to 25: 45.7%
26 to 34: 39.7%
35 to 44: 42.0%
45 to 54: 47.1%
55 to 64: 55.3%
65-plus: 62.2%

Source: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2012 Quality of Care Tables

Out-of-Pocket Health Care Expenses

How much do Americans spend out-of-pocket on health care expenses—the co-pays, deductibles, and other amounts not covered by insurance? Among those with health care expenses, average out-of-pocket spending amounted to $703 per person in 2011 (the latest data available), according to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. These figures do not include out-of-pocket spending on health insurance, and they vary greatly by age and insurance status.

Annual out-of-pocket health care expenses per person, by age and insurance status:
Under age 65
Private insurance: $682
Public insurance: $253
No health insurance: $725

Aged 65 or older
Medicare only: $1,177
Medicare & private: $1,362
Medicare and other public: $605

Source: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, Out-of-Pocket Health Care Expenses by Age and Insurance Coverage, 2011

Who Wants to Raise the Age of Medicare?

The people who already receive Medicare benefits, that's who. Nearly two-thirds of the elderly favor raising the age of Medicare eligibility—but only if it affects future retirees (their children and grandchildren) and not their own health insurance benefits.

When the Kaiser Family Foundation asked Americans, "Would you favor or oppose gradually raising the age of eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 67 for future retirees?" the 64 percent majority of Americans aged 65 or older favored an increase. Among younger Americans, a smaller 43 to 44 percent supported an increase in the age of eligibility.

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, Public Opinion Polling on Raising the Age of Medicare Eligibility: Historical Trends and Current Nuances

Medicare Enrollment Rises

As the American population ages, the number of people aged 65 or older enrolled in Medicare (the federal government's health insurance program for the elderly) has been rising. But the biggest increases are yet to come: the oldest baby boomers, born in 1946, became eligible for Medicare in 2011.

Number of persons aged 65+ enrolled in Medicare
2010: 39,631,000
2000: 34,261,000
1990: 30,948,000

Source: Social Security Administration, Annual Statistical Supplement, 2012