Researchers at Brown University Target Managed Care (Mortality gap between Puerto Rico and the US mainland among Medicare Advantage enrollees): Managed Care

2025 NOV 12 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Researchers detail new data in Managed Care. According to news reporting originating from Providence, Rhode Island, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Health care and outcomes in Puerto Rico (PR) have been impacted by US federal policies, including those pertaining to the Medicare Advantage (MA) program. The MA enrollment rate in the US mainland is 54%, but in PR, it is more than 90%.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Brown University, “In addition to this stark difference in MA enrollment rate, MA plan payments and quality-which may impact mortality of enrollees-also differ between PR and the US. Despite these differences, little is known about the mortality gap between PR and the US among MA enrollees. We compared mortality rates between Hispanic MA enrollees in PR and Hispanic and White enrollees in the US from 2010 to 2022, adjusting for age and sex in each year. We found that among MA enrollees, the mortality of Hispanic enrollees in PR was significantly higher than that of Hispanic enrollees in the US. The findings may be explained by lower quality of care provided to PR Hispanic enrollees compared with US Hispanic enrollees, particularly within MA plans.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Our results provide insights into existing disparities among MA enrollees in PR and the US mainland.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Mortality gap between Puerto Rico and the US mainland among Medicare Advantage enrollees. The American Journal of Managed Care, 2025;31(10):534-535. The American Journal of Managed Care can be contacted at: Managed Care & Healthcare Communications Llc, 666 Plainsboro Rd, Ste 300, Plainsboro, NJ 08536, USA.

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Daeho Kim, Dept. of Health Services, Policy and Practice, Brown University, 121 S Main St, Providence, RI 02903. Additional authors for this research include Amal N. Trivedi, David J. Meyers and Maricruz Rivera-Hernandez.

Publisher contact information for the The American Journal of Managed Care is: Managed Care & Healthcare Communications Llc, 666 Plainsboro Rd, Ste 300, Plainsboro, NJ 08536, USA.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)