Shifting Away from Private Insurance: Medicare Coverage on the Rise among Older Adults

The percentage of older adults who exclusively had private coverage remained small and has remained stable over time. In 2017, only 4.9% of adults aged 65 and older reported having private coverage alone, while in 2022 this number increased slightly to 5.3%. However, the percentage of those with Medicare coverage alone has seen a significant increase from 10.3 percentage points lower in 2017 to 5.2 percentage points higher in 2022, indicating a shift away from supplementing Medicare with private insurance among this demographic.

The decline in the number of older adults with both private and Medicare coverage is largely attributed to an increase in the share of older adults relying solely on Medicare. In 2017, only 89.1% of adults aged 65 and older had both private and Medicare coverage, while by 2022 this number decreased to only 84.8%. This suggests that more older adults are relying solely on Medicare for their healthcare coverage, indicating a shift away from supplementing Medicare with private insurance among this demographic.

Overall, these trends suggest that there is a growing reliance on Medicare among older adults for their healthcare needs, as fewer individuals are choosing to supplement their coverage with private insurance.