Patients who participate in Medicare Advantage plans spend more time as hospital inpatients but receive less post-acute care than those in traditional Medicare, a new study has found.
According to NORC, a non-partisan research organization at the University of Chicago,
Medicare Advantage patients had hospital stays that were 40% longer on average than those with Traditional Medicare, which comes to seven days versus five. In 2022, Medicare Advantage plans discharged fewer patients to post-acute care settings such as skilled nursing or home health compared to patients covered by Traditional Medicare.
According to NORC, “These disparities suggest that Medicare Advantage beneficiaries are more likely to face delays in recovery and reduced access to essential care following hospitalization.”
McKnight’s Long-Term Care News reported that the NORC study was undertaken “…on behalf of the Coalition to Strengthen America’s Healthcare.”
Learn more about the study and its implications for Medicare beneficiaries from this NORC news release and the report “Analysis of Hospital Discharges to PAC Settings Among Medicare Beneficiaries.”