Prior research from the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) and HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) show older adults receiving federal housing assistance face disproportionately high rates of chronic conditions and health care utilization. Coordinated services may help meet the needs of HUD-assisted adults and allow them to remain in an independent living setting as they age. HUD-assisted adults with Medicare Advantage (MA) coverage could potentially benefit from the care coordination and non-medical benefits offered by private MA plans. However, prior to this project, HUD and ASPE did not previously understand the uptake of MA coverage among HUD-assisted persons.

The “Medicare Advantage Coverage Among Individuals Receiving Federal Housing Assistance” study sought to better understand MA enrollment among adults receiving housing assistance from HUD’s three largest rental assistance program categories: the Housing Choice Voucher program, public housing, and multifamily programs. The study specifically focuses on the demographic characteristics and geographic distribution of this population. To accomplish this, the research team used HUD administrative data on public and assisted housing programs linked to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare enrollment and MA plan data. To quantify MA coverage among HUD-assisted individuals, the team deterministically linked HUD data and MA enrollment data from 2018 to 2020. Specifically, analysts merged person-level data from HUD’s annual longitudinal file with Medicare enrollee data from CMS’ Master Beneficiary Summary File (MBSF) using nine-digit social security number (SSN). Study findings underscore geographic concentrations of MA enrollees who receive federal housing assistance and highlights the opportunity to engage private MA plans to improve delivery of care and supportive services for HUD-assisted persons, especially older adults living in public and assisted housing.

Click here to see an infographic on HUD-assisted individuals with Medicare Advantage coverage.

Learn more about Medicare Advantage Coverage Among Individuals Receiving Federal Housing Assistance.