Proportion of older adults with Medicare Part D

Hi I used 2018-2021 data for those age 65+ and found that only about 45% had Medicare Part D coverage. The Centers fof Medicare and Medicaid Services, 75% of the age 65+ group has Medicare Part D. Does anyone know about why there is such discrepancy? Percentages with Medicare Advantage program and private insurance coverage are consistent with the known perentages.

Hi, I am curious to see if I can replicate this issue, which IPUMS USA variables are you using to try and get coverage of these rates?

Thanks, Chris. On the data set, the variable name is: MCAREPARTD.
I looked up NHIS questionnaire to see if it only refers to stand-alone Medicare Part D (that is, not including Part D through Medicare Advantage programs). If that is the case, the ~45% in each year is about right. However, the questionnaire skip patterns does not specifically mention to exclude Medicare Advantage people. Please let me know when you replicate it,

I see now, it looks like that is a variable from IPUMS NHIS. There is an IPUMS Health Surveys forum which might have folks who can help out better with NHIS; I have very minimal experience with those surveys, although I hang around the IPUMS USA forums because of how much I’ve enjoyed working with the Census/ACS data :grin:

Thanks, Chris. Yes, it is an NHIS variable. I just posted my question on the Healthy Surveys forum .

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To follow this conversation on the IPUMS Health Surveys forum, please visit: Medicare Part D