Medicare and Medicaid: Meeting Needs of Dual Eligibles Raises Difficult Cost and Care Issues

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed several issues that arise in financing health care for people known as dual eligibles, Medicare beneficiaries who are also eligible for some form of Medicaid support, focusing on: (1) the health characteristics of those who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid and the key structural differences between the two programs that serve this population; (2) benefit overlaps between these two programs and the associated shifting of care and costs between federal and state levels; and (3) states' efforts to use managed care to serve this population.