Medicare Advantage Poses Challenges to Health Care Cost-Effectiveness and Equity

This study found that top-rated plans had the greatest disparities in health outcomes between low and high socioeconomic status, Black and White members, and Hispanic and White members. Research assessing hospital readmission rates among Medicare enrollees quantifies the stark differences among those with Advantage plans. Black patients with traditional Medicare were 33% more likely to be readmitted within 30 days as compared to their White counterparts, whereas Black patients with Medicare Advantage were 64% more likely to be readmitted as compared to White patients. Not only has quality of care been an area of concern for Medicare Advantage plans, but cost, one of the most debilitating barriers to healthcare, has surfaced as a challenge for individuals of color. When analyzing the entire sample pool, and by each individual racial category,  more Medicare Advantage beneficiaries report cost-related problems, as compared to traditional Medicare. The Kaiser Family Foundation reported that 15% of traditional Medicare beneficiaries faced cost-related challenges as compared to 19% Advantage enrollees. Segmenting the data into racial categories found that 32% of Black Advantage beneficiaries reported a cost-related problem as compared to 19% of their White counterparts. People of color already suffer tremendously as a result of biases deeply entrenched in the healthcare system, in terms of poor health outcomes and cost barriers. Medicare Advantage has been shown to heighte...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Policy Medicare amy helburn Health Care Costs Health Disparities Medicare Advantage nirban singh Source Type: blogs