According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, health care spending in the United States reached $3.8 trillion in 2019 alone; that’s estimated to be around $11,582 per person [1]. Unfortunately, that high spending has not resulted in making health care across the U.S. any more accessible and hasn’t helped to encourage people in taking the right steps to take control of their health, even with access to a health plan.

Where people live, learn, and work can all have an impact on how they engage with their health, factors which are relevant for both Medicare and Medicaid populations. In fact, time, money, and transportation can have a significant impact on a person’s ability to access the healthcare they need even with health coverage.

In this article, we will explore Medicare and Medicaid in the United States and how health care from home is a step in the right direction to encouraging people to better engage with their health.

The Medicare and Medicaid Populations

A government report released in June 2021 showed that enrollment in Medicaid rose sharply during the pandemic [2]. And with further estimates suggesting that around 62.6 million people were enrolled in Medicare in 2020 [3], a public health program for those over 65 or under 65 with a disability, it is quite clear that access to healthcare is critical.

Although more people than ever currently rely on these public health plans, we still see a serious lack of engagement and knowledge surrounding healthcare in general. One study published by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that people with low income, poor health, or of an older age are much less likely to seek out information surrounding their health plan; with 40% of enrollees in Medicare admitting that they had never even visited the Medicare website [4].

Lack of information is just one of many factors that can put a large strain on a person’s desire to engage with their health. Transport, age, getting time off work, and even something as simple as finding the right doctor for their needs can negatively affect how people engage with their health.

Reaching the Hard-to-Reach

So how do we encourage Medicare and Medicaid populations to be better engaged in their healthcare despite facing other social barriers? First, we must work towards closing any gaps that make accessing the right healthcare difficult or impossible; this includes two of the largest barriers - time and transport.

Utilizing an entirely remote and digital diagnostic solution can help solve many of the challenges that these groups face. Home healthcare means that these groups can access the same quality services from the comfort of their own home - from diagnostic tests to prescription delivery and everything in-between - putting barriers such as time and transport in the back of their minds while connecting the dots of the ever so disjointed healthcare system.

Many LetsGetChecked tests are aligned to the improvement of HEDIS and STAR measures, the rating systems used to rate how well providers deliver care to their members. Kidney panels, cancer screenings, diabetes, and heart tests, and more are available to diagnose undiagnosed conditions and manage conditions. We have partnered with some of the largest plans around the globe to support improving care for members.

You can get in touch with our Inside Sales team at insidesales@letsgetchecked.co.uk or (315) 515-5571

References

  1. https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NationalHealthAccountsHistorical#:~:text=The data are presented by,spending accounted for 17.7 percent.
  2. https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/new-medicaid-and-chip-enrollment-snapshot-shows-almost-10-million-americans-enrolled-coverage-during
    3.https://www.statista.com/topics/1167/medicare/#:~:text=Medicare beneficiaries,beneficiaries due to various disabilities.
  3. https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/more-than-half-of-all-people-on-medicare-do-not-compare-their-coverage-options-annually/
  4. www.cdc.gov/csels/dls/strengthening-clinical-labs.html