New Insurance Study Results Reported from Drexel University (Racial and Ethnic Disparities In Access To and Enrollment In High-quality Medicare Advantage Plans): Insurance

2022 MAY 04 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- A new study on Insurance is now available. According to news reporting originating in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Racial and ethnic minority enrollees in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans tend to be in lower-quality plans, measured by a 5-star quality rating system. We examine whether differential access to high-rated plans was associated with this differential enrollment in high-rated plans by race and ethnicity among MA enrollees.”

Funders for this research include NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA.

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Drexel University, “The Medicare Master Beneficiary Summary File and MA Landscape File for 2016. We first examined county-level MA plan offerings by race and ethnicity. We then examined the association of racial and ethnic differences in enrollment by star rating by controlling for the following different sets of covariates: (1) individual-level characteristics only, and (2) individual-level characteristics and county-level MA plan offerings. Data Collection/Extraction Methods Not applicable Principal Findings Racial and ethnic minority enrollees had, on average, more MA plans available in their counties of residence compared to White enrollees (16.1, 20.8, 20.2, vs. 15.1 for Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, and White enrollees), but had fewer number of high-rated plans (4-star plans or higher) and/or more number of low-rated plans (3.5-star plans or lower). While racial and ethnic minority enrollees had lower enrollment in 4-4.5 star plans than White enrollees, this difference substantially decreased after accounting for county-level MA plan offerings (-9.1 to -0.5 percentage points for Black enrollees, -15.9 to -5.0 percentage points for Asian/Pacific Islander enrollees, and -12.7 to 0.6 percentage points for Hispanic enrollees). Results for Black enrollees were notable as the racial difference reversed when we limited the analysis to those who live in counties that offer a 5-star plan. After accounting for county-level MA plan offerings, Black enrollees had 3.2 percentage points higher enrollment in 5-star plans than White enrollees.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Differences in enrollment in high-rated MA plans by race and ethnicity may be explained by limited access and not by individual characteristics or enrollment decisions.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Racial and Ethnic Disparities In Access To and Enrollment In High-quality Medicare Advantage Plans. Health Services Research, 2022. Health Services Research can be contacted at: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA. (Wiley-Blackwell - http://www.wiley.com/; Health Services Research - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1475-6773)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Sungchul Park, Drexel University, Domsife Sch Publ Hlth, Dept. of Health Management and Policy, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States. Additional authors for this research include Rachel M. Werner and Norma B. Coe.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.13977. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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