Creator: Patrick Connole
MA Enrollment Tied to SNF Admissions Decline in 5-State Study
A new study said MA enrollment resulted in declines in skilled nursing facility admissions and in other PAC settings of care in the five states examined.
A study in Health Affairs said Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment resulted in significant declines in skilled nursing facility (SNF) admissions and in other post-acute care settings without negative short-term effects on mortality or time spent at home.
The research said MA plans receive capitated payments that could lead to greater efficiency compared with traditional Medicare but may also curtail provision of beneficial services. However, MA effects are not fully understood, as most research to date is cross-sectional and could be subject to selection bias, a synopsis of the study said.
“The study investigated a natural experiment in which five states [Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, and New Jersey] shifted health benefits for retired state employees from supplemental plans for traditional Medicare to MA plans during the period 2017–19, leading to 87 percent of the more than 220,000 state retirees in these states shifting to MA,” the brief said.
“We found increased use of certain outpatient services [annual wellness visits and home evaluation and management visits] and observation stays, along with reduced hospital and post-acute care admissions. We found no effect on days spent at home or in the community, or on mortality,” researchers said.
Among the study’s key findings included that SNF admissions decreased by 17.5 percent after beneficiaries enrolled in MA, while inpatient rehabilitation facility admissions fell by a more pronounced 30.6 percent.
MA enrollment also cut inpatient hospital admissions by 11.5 percent and increased observation stays. The study said this may indicate that some care may have shifted from inpatient to less intensive settings.
Comments or questions? Contact Patrick Connole at pconnole@parkplacelive.com.
