Medicare-Covered Services Near the End of Life in Medicare Advantage vs Traditional Medicare.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Financial incentives in Medicare Advantage (MA), the managed care alternative to traditional Medicare (TM), were designed to reduce overutilization. For patients near the end of life (EOL), MA incentives may reduce potentially burdensome care and encourage hospice but could also restrict access to costly but necessary services.

Objective

To compare receipt of potentially burdensome treatments and transfers and potentially necessary postacute services in the last 6 months of life in individuals with MA vs TM.

Design, setting, and participants

A retrospective analysis of Medicare claims data among older Medicare beneficiaries who died between 2016 and 2018. The study included Medicare decedents aged 66 years or older covered by TM (n = 659 135) or MA (n = 360

SUBMITTER: Nicholas LH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11259900 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature