HIV/AIDS POLICY FAC T
S H EE T
Medicare and HIV/AIDS Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people age 65 and older and younger adults with permanent disabilities,1 is an important source of health coverage for an estimated 100,000 people with HIV.2.18 It covers approximately one fifth of people with HIV estimated to be receiving care in the United States, but only a relatively small fraction (<.01%) of the overall Medicare population of 45 million.1 With the implementation of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit in 2006, Medicare assumed an even more critical role for people with HIV, as it began to pay for prescription drugs.3 Medicare Beneficiaries with HIV Most people with HIV on Medicare are under age 65 and qualify because they are disabled and receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments (93% of beneficiaries2), which entitle them to Medicare after a two-year waiting period. A small share (7%) becomes eligible as seniors.2 The number of people with HIV on Medicare has grown over time, reflecting growth in the size of the HIV positive population in the U.S. as a result of a steady number of new infections and an increased lifespan for people with HIV due to antiretrovirals (ARVs) and other treatment advances. Between 1997 and 2003, for example, the number of Medicare beneficiaries with HIV increased by 80% (from 42,520 to 76,500), and rose more rapidly among women than men.2 Medicare beneficiaries with HIV are more likely to be male, under age 65 and disabled, Black, and to live in urban areas compared to other Medicare beneficiaries.2 Figure 1: Federal Funding for HIV/AIDS Care by Program, FY 20084,5,6 Ryan White $2.2 (19%)
Medicare $4.5 (39%)
Other $0.8 (7%) Medicaid (federal share only) $4.1 (35%) Total = $11.6 Billion
Medicare Spending on HIV Care In FY 2008, Medicare spending on HIV totaled $4.5 billion, representing 39 percent of federal spending on HIV care (Figure 1); it is expected to reach $4.8 billion in FY 2009.4,5,6 HIV spending under Medicare has increased over time, as the number of beneficiaries has grown. Still, Medicare spending on HIV represents less than 1% of total Medicare spending.7
February 2009
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) which administers the Medicare and Medicaid programs, Medicare spending on HIV became the single largest source of federal financing for HIV care in 2006, surpassing federal Medicaid spending on the disease for the first time.8,9,10,11 This was due to the implementation of Medicare Part D which provided medications to Medicare beneficiaries, including those with HIV, for the first time. Most Medicare beneficiaries with HIV are also covered by Medicaid (so-called “dual eligibles”) and for this group, the implementation of Part D shifted their prescription drug costs from Medicaid to Medicare. Medicare Eligibility There are three main pathways to Medicare eligibility (see Figure 2): • Most people age 65 and older are entitled to Medicare if they are eligible for Social Security payments, which are based on “credits” earned through working. • People under age 65 may be eligible for Medicare if they are determined to be “permanently disabled” due to a physical or mental impairment that prevents them from working for a year or more or that is expected to result in death, and they have earned enough work credits to receive SSDI payments (the number of credits needed depends on age). This is the main Medicare pathway for people with HIV. After disability is determined, federal law requires a 5-month waiting period before receipt of SSDI benefits followed by a 24-month waiting period for Medicare coverage. The two-year Medicare waiting period has been identified as a barrier to access for people with disabilities, including those with HIV, and legislation has been introduced to eliminate it.12 • People with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or Lou Gehrig’s disease of any age are eligible for Medicare as soon as they begin receiving SSDI payments (with no 24-month waiting period). HIV disease, and some of its treatments, is associated with renal complications, including ESRD,13 and some people with HIV qualify for Medicare due to ESRD. Approximately 7% of Medicare beneficiaries with HIV have renal complications.2 Figure 2: Medicare Eligibility Pathways for People with HIV/AIDS1 Eligibility Category Individuals age 65 and older
Eligibility Criteria Sufficient number of work credits to qualify for Social Security payments Sufficient number of work credits to
Individuals under age 65
qualify for SSDI payments due to
with permanent disability
disability; eligible for Medicare after receiving SSDI payments for 24 months
Individuals with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) or Lou Gehrig’s disease of any age
Sufficient number of work credits to qualify for SSDI; eligible for Medicare as soon as they start receiving SSDI payments (no waiting period)
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Headquarters: 2400 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025 Phone 650-854-9400 Fax 650-854-4800 Washington Offices and Barbara Jordan Conference Center: 1330 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 Phone 202-347-5270 Fax 202-347-5274 www.kff.org The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit private operating foundation, based in Menlo Park, California, dedicated to producing and communicating the best possible information, research and analysis on health issues.
Medicare Benefits Medicare provides broad coverage of basic health care services, and is organized into four parts:1 • Part A (Hospital Insurance): pays for inpatient hospital services, skilled nursing facilities, home health services, and hospice care. • Part B (Medical Insurance): pays for physician, outpatient, preventive services, and home health visits. • Part C (Medicare Advantage): private plans (primarily HMOs) contract with Medicare to provide Part A, Part B, and, in most cases, the Part D drug benefit, to enrollees. • Part D (Prescription Drug Benefit): voluntary outpatient prescription drug benefit implemented in 2006, and delivered through private plans that contract with Medicare; additional premium and cost-sharing assistance for beneficiaries with lowincomes and modest assets. While Medicare provides basic coverage, it has relatively high costsharing requirements, no cap on out-of-pocket spending for seniors covered under Parts A and B, and does not cover all services that may be important to people with HIV, such as long term care and dental care. Most beneficiaries, therefore, have some form of supplemental coverage.1 For beneficiaries with HIV, the main source of supplemental coverage is Medicaid; other important sources are the Ryan White Program and private insurance. Part D’s Role for People with HIV Part D marked an important change for Medicare beneficiaries with HIV by offering subsidized prescription drug coverage under the program, with a catastrophic benefit.3 Part D plans cover all approved ARVs, consistent with CMS guidelines designating ARVs as one of six protected drug classes.9 Plans, however, do not have to offer other, non-ARV, drugs. CMS announced an interim final rule to protect ARVs and the other classes through 2010, but the rule has not yet gone into effect.14 Part D includes a “coverage gap” or “doughnut hole”, during which no coverage is available until beneficiary expenses – called their “true out-of-pocket costs” (TrOOP) – reach a catastrophic level. Lowincome beneficiaries receive subsidies during the gap and therefore face minimal drug costs in the gap. These subsidies serve to protect many people with HIV since they are much more likely to be lowincome compared to the general Medicare population.15 In addition, even without subsidies, people with HIV tend to reach the catastrophic level relatively quickly, given the high cost of ARVs.9 For those on Part D without low-income subsidies or who still need help paying for medications, the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) of Ryan White plays an important role. State ADAPs facilitate beneficiary enrollment in Part D, pay for their Part D premiums and co-payments, and most cover medication expenses during doughnut hole.16 One issue that has arisen, however, is that ADAP payments during the doughnut hole do not count toward TrOOP, effectively shifting catastrophic drug costs from Medicare to ADAP. Some have raised concerns that ADAPs are treated differently than other programs, such as State Pharmacy Assistance Programs (SPAPs) whose payments do count towards TrOOP in the gap, and that this puts an added strain on limited ADAP resources. Legislation has been introduced to allow ADAP payments to count toward TrOOP.17
Figure 3: Federal Spending on HIV Care Through Medicare, Medicaid, and Ryan White, FY 2006–2008 (in billions)4,5,6 $10.3 $0.7 $2.1 $3.6
$11.0 $0.8 $2.1
$3.9
$11.6 $0.8 $2.2 Other
$4.1
Ryan White Medicaid Medicare
$3.9
$4.2
$4.5
2006
2007
2008
Future Outlook and Challenges Medicare will continue to play an important role for people with HIV, particularly now that it helps pay for prescription drugs. Part D’s subsidies for low-income beneficiaries and catastrophic coverage are especially critical for people with HIV. Looking forward, ongoing policy challenges concerning Medicare’s role for people with HIV include: the 24-month waiting period before SSDI recipients can obtain Medicare benefits; the absence of a cap on out-of-pocket spending; and gaps in existing coverage, such as Part D’s coverage gap and current policy which does not count ADAP payments during the gap toward TrOOP. Ongoing efforts to monitor Part D are needed to assess whether plans maintain coverage of ARVs, add newly approved ARVs to formularies, and to what extent they offer nonARV medications that may be needed by people with HIV. Given the importance of Medicare for people with HIV, this population has much at stake in the larger national discussion around the future of the Medicare program. References 1 KFF. Fact Sheet: Medicare at a Glance; November 2008. 2G ilden DE, Kubisiak JM, Gilden DM. Managing Medicare’s HIV Caseload in the Era of Suppressive Therapy. AJPH. Vol. 97, No. 6; June 2007. 3 KFF. Fact Sheet: The Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit; February 2008. 4 OMB, CMS Office of the Actuary, HHS Office of Budget, 2008. 5C RS. AIDS Funding for Federal Government Programs: FY1981–FY2009; April 2008. 6K FF. Fact Sheet: U.S. Federal Funding for HIV/AIDS: The FY 2009 Budget Request; April 2008. 7 CBO.The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update; September 2008. 8 CMS, personal communication, April 2008, June 2008. 9K FF. The Role of Part D for People With HIV/AIDS: Coverage and Cost of Antiretrovirals Under Medicare Drug Plans; August 2006. 10 CMS also lowered the estimated per capita cost for HIV care used in its calculations from FY 2006 forward, which reduced spending for both Medicaid and Medicare compared to prior estimates for these same years. This revision also means that estimates from FY 2006 forward are not directly comparable to prior year data. 11 Bruen BK, Miller LM. ”Changes in Medicaid Prescription Volume and Use in the Wake of Medicare Part D Implementation.” Health Affairs. Vol. 27:1; January/February 2008. 12 [110th] Ending the Medicare Disability Waiting Period Act of 2007 (Introduced in House, January 2007)[H.R.154.IH ]; [110th] Ending the Medicare Disability Waiting Period Act of 2007 (Introduced in Senate, September 2007)[S.2102.IS ]. 13 UCSF HIV Insite. Knowledge Database: Renal Manifestations of HIV; January 2008. http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kb-04-01-10#S1X. 14 CMS. Press Release: CMS Announces Course Of Action To Identify Protected Classes Of Prescription Drugs; January 15, 2009. 15 Bozzette SA et al. “The Care of HIV-Infected Adults in the United States.” NEJM. Vol. 339, No. 26, December 1998. 16 KFF & NASTAD. National ADAP Monitoring Project 2008 Annual Report; April 2008. 17 [110th] Helping Fill the Medicare Rx Gap Act of 2007 (Introduced in Senate, April 2007)[S.1103.IS ];[110th] Helping Fill the Medicare Rx Gap Act of 2007 (Introduced in House, April 2007)[H.R.2058.IH ] 18 KFF analysis. This publication (#7171-04) is available on the Kaiser Family Foundation’s website at www.kff.org.