Medicare patients in poorest US counties more likely to incur higher out-of-pocket hospitalization expenses
By a
"We know from prior work that multiple observation stays can lead to high out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries," explained lead investigator
Using data from over 56,000,000 claims from a 2013 Medicare Part B Limited Data Set, researchers identified 132,539 observation stays representing 67,641 individuals. Publicly available income and poverty data from the
This investigation determined that beneficiaries living in the poorest counties were almost 25% more likely to have multiple observation visits and that those in poor counties were 17% more likely to sustain high out-of-pocket costs compared to patients living in wealthier counties.
In 2013, the
The
While this was a retrospective, observational analysis which cannot infer causality, and the income level of each individual patient was unknown and only estimated from county-wide data, investigators found similar trends regarding demographics and hospital use from studies that had access to more granular data.
"It is important to establish and maintain a relationship with a primary care provider and keep up with regular check-ups to manage chronic medical conditions," added
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