Research from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Yields New Findings on Geriatrics and Gerontology (Trends in Older Adults’ Knowledge of Medicare Advantage Benefits, 2010 to 2016)

2020 JUN 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Education Daily Report -- Investigators discuss new findings in Aging Research - Geriatrics and Gerontology. According to news originating from New York City, New York, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “The Medicare Advantage (MA) program insures a rapidly growing proportion of older adults, and may be more appealing due to lower cost sharing. However, the extent to which older adults are informed of their plan benefits and how plan knowledge has changed over time is unclear.”

Financial supporters for this research include National Institute on Aging, National Palliative Care Research Center.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, “We evaluated temporal trends and characteristics associated with not knowing MA coverage for dental, vision, and nursing home (NH) services. Longitudinal cohort study. Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), 2010 to 2016. Adults aged 65 years or older enrolled in MA plans and not in Medicaid. Insurance knowledge was determined from separate items asking if individuals had coverage through their MA plan for dental, vision, and NH care. Responses were dichotomized between responding yes/no and not knowing. Demographic, clinical, and functional characteristics were assessed from the MCBS. The proportion of older adults in MA who did not know if their plan covered NH care increased from 38.0% in 2010 to 45.5% in 2016. However, proportions of not knowing dental benefits decreased from 6.4% in 2010 to 3.4% in 2016 and not knowing vision benefits decreased from 8.2% in 2010 to 5.9% in 2016. We found significant associations of race, education, income, region, and disability with knowledge of MA benefits. As enrollment in MA plans has grown, older adults in MA plans increasingly report that they know their plan’s vision and dental benefits, although they decreasingly know about NH care. Older adults from racial and ethnic minority groups, with lower levels of education and income and who reside in certain regions or have functional disability, are less likely to know their plan benefits.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “This may imply decreasing preparedness for future long-term care needs.”

For more information on this research see: Trends in Older Adults’ Knowledge of Medicare Advantage Benefits, 2010 to 2016. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2020;():. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society can be contacted at: Blackwell Publishing Inc, 350 Main St, Malden, MA 02148, USA. (Wiley-Blackwell - http://www.wiley.com/; Journal of the American Geriatrics Society - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1532-5415)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from J. Moreno, Dept. of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States. Additional authors for this research include C.K. Ankuda, K. McKendrick and M.D Aldridge.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.16656. 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.

The publisher’s contact information for the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society is: Blackwell Publishing Inc, 350 Main St, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

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