Longitudinal patterns of public health insurance coverage among disability beneficiaries early results based on administrative records on DI, SSI, Medicare and Medicaid Kalman Rupp (SSA) and Gerald F. Riley (CMS) Presented at State of the Art Conference Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics Bethesda, MD, April 23, 2012.
Motivation Public health insurance coverage among disability beneficiaries is important policy issue Two major disability programs: Disability Insurance (DI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits for the nonelderly Complex month-to-month longitudinal patterns of SSI and DI participation reflecting interactions of program rules DI benefit eligibility leads to categorical eligibility for Medicare after a long waiting period In contrast, SSI benefit eligibility results in categorical Medicaid eligibility in most states with no waiting period Purpose to demonstrate and quantify how longitudinal interactions between DI and SSI affect access to and the timing of public health insurance coverage. 6/19/2015 2
Research strategy Create a longitudinal person-level file of CY2000 first-ever disability program entrants from matched administrative records Classify longitudinal patterns of DI and/or SSI benefit eligibility based on 72 months of data Analyze patterns of Medicaid and Medicare coverage as a function of longitudinal pattern and other variables 84 months of data, including 12 months prior to first disability award Ongoing and planned future work to look at patterns of cash benefit and health insurance expenditures, projected lifetime participation and benefits, and the effect of implementation factors on participation and Federal expenditures 6/19/2015 3
Analytic sample First-ever disability award (DI and/or SSI) in 2000 Aged 18-64 at first award 10 percent sample (68,798 observations) Sample based on Ticket Research File, a massive data file compiled from several SSA data record systems, including DI benefit eligibility and actual payments SSI benefit eligibility and actual payments Death records Earnings records Other variables added from primary SSA data systems as needed 6/19/2015 4
% 100 Figure 1 Year 2000 First Disability Cohort Status over Time Reached age 65 80 Died before age 65 60 Alive, under 65 and not in benefit status Eligible for disability benefits 40 20 0 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 Month (month #1 = month of entry) 6/19/2015 5
Factors affecting longitudinal patterns of DI, SSI, Medicaid and Medicare eligibility DI is social insurance based on earnings history, SSI is means-tested welfare program but identical rules determine categorical eligibility as disabled 5-month DI waiting period DI benefits are countable income in SSI High DI benefits may result in SSI income ineligibility Different rules affect DI and SSI exits and re-entry 24-month Medicare waiting period (29 months DI + Medicare) Categorical eligibility of SSI beneficiaries for Medicaid Administrative procedures limit access (e.g. delays in initial determination process, separate Medicaid application in some states) Rules concerning continued Medicare and Medicaid eligibility of suspended or terminated cash benefit recipients 6/19/2015 6
Figure 2 Sorting process of disability awardees Chart 2: Simplified DI and SSI benefit stream determination conditional on passing the SSA disability screen SSI-Only Benefit Awardee Concurrent Benefits Awardee DI-Only Benefit Awardee 0 Months: Start of Disability Benefit Eligibility SSI Only Benefit Expected DI benefit Expected SSI benefit? Yes Serial Beneficiary 5 Months: DI Benefits Begin Joint DI/SSI Beneficiary No Both DI and SSI Benefit DI Only Benefit SSI Only Benefit DI Only Benefit 6/19/2015 7
Classification of longitudinal patterns Major patterns: DI-only SSI-only Serial SSI-only to DI-only after 5-month waiting period Joint SSI-only to concurrent receipt of DI and SSI DI-only with subsequent SSI-entry concurrently receiving DI and SSI for one or more months Classification scheme results in 98 percent assigned to 5 major categories, residual 2 percent with various patterns of SSI-entry and subsequent DI involvement 6/19/2015 8
Percent distribution by longitudinal pattern CY 2000 disability cash benefit awardees 4 8 2 DI-only 16 DI-only to joint DI/SSI SSI-only SSI-only to DI-only serial 10 60 SSI-only to joint DI/SSI Any other pattern 6/19/2015 9
Characteristics of 2000 disability program entrants (N=68,798) Age at award 18-30 9.6% 31-45 27.4% 46-64 63.0% Female 48.1 % Nonwhite race 27.8% Most frequent primary diagnoses Musculoskeletal 25.5 % Mental 22.6 % Circulatory 12.2 % Neoplasms 9.2% Nervous system 7.9% 6/19/2015 10
Medicare Data Matched to SSA files using SSN, date of birth, sex Enrollment data base (EDB) Entitlement start and stop dates (complete history) Demographics Beneficiary Annual Summary Files (1999-2006) Total fee-for-service payments by type of service Utilization measures Managed care enrollment Chronic condition flags 6/19/2015 11
Medicaid data Matched to SSA files using SSN, date of birth, sex Annual Person Summary Files (1999-2006) Monthly Medicaid eligibility Demographics Total fee-for-service payments by type of service Utilization measures Managed care enrollment Managed care payments Medicaid eligibility refers to full benefits 6/19/2015 12
Data Matching Agreement on Social Security Number AND One of following two conditions Agreement on date of birth Agreement on sex and 2 of 3 date of birth elements (month, day, year) SSA records without valid match were deemed not covered by Medicare or Medicaid 6/19/2015 13
(-12) (-9) (-6) (-3) 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58 61 64 67 70 Percent Medicaid coverage Medicaid coverage by longitudinal pattern of disability program entry, survivors aged 18-64 during given month 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 DI Only 50.0 SSI Only SSI/DI Serial 40.0 SSI/DI Joint DI entry with SSI later 30.0 20.0 10.0 0.0 Month (first month of disability award= month 1) 6/19/2015 14
Percent with full Medicaid coverage Cash benefit status at month 72 Longitudinal pattern SSI (with or without DI) DI without SSI Neither SSI nor DI SSI-only 94.6% Not applicable 35.9% DI-only Not applicable 8.3% 7.4% SSI and DI 91.6% 31.8% 17.7% 6/19/2015 15
(-12) (-9) (-6) (-3) 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58 61 64 67 70 Percent with Medicaid and/or Medicare coverage Public health insurance (Medicaid and/or Medicare) coverage by longitudinal pattern of disability program entry, survivors aged 18-64 during given month 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 DI Only 50.0 SSI Only SSI/DI Serial 40.0 SSI/DI Joint DI entry with SSI later 30.0 20.0 10.0 0.0 Month (first month of disability award = month 1) 6/19/2015 16
Conclusions Medicaid is an important source of health insurance for many DI beneficiaries with some SSI involvement during the 24-month Medicare waiting period Some Medicaid coverage prior to SSI eligibility, especially among SSI-only cohort SSI eligibles who transition to DI-only status after the 5-month DI waiting period often lose full Medicaid coverage sometime before Medicare coverage begins Medicaid coverage among SSI-only stayers reaches about 95% after two years and stays at that level until month 72 Only about a third of SSI-only eligibles who left the disability rolls were covered by Medicaid in month 72 6/19/2015 17
Conclusions (cont.) Public health insurance coverage is uneven in first 2 years because of Medicare waiting period Nearly all DI beneficiaries have health insurance through Medicare after 2 years Most with SSI involvement have both Medicare and Medicaid coverage Although most DI eligibles who lose benefits due to work are guaranteed continued Medicare coverage for 93 additional months, relatively few leave the DI rolls 6/19/2015 18
References Riley GF. 2006. Health insurance and access to care among Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries during the Medicare waiting period. Inquiry 43(3):222-230. Rupp K, Davies PS, and Strand A. 2011 Disability Benefit Coverage and Program Interactions in the Working-Age Population. Social Security Bulletin 68(1):1-30. Rupp K, Riley GF. Longitudinal patterns of Medicaid and Medicare coverage among disability cash benefit awardees. Forthcoming, Social Security Bulletin. Rupp K, Riley GF. 2011. Longitudinal patterns of participation in the Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income cash benefit programs for people with disabilities. Social Security Bulletin 71(2):25-51. 6/19/2015 19