Medicare Advantage beneficiaries were less likely to receive ongoing at-home care than their counterparts in traditional Medicare but more likely to receive one-time visits, a study published in the September issue of Health Affairs found.
The study compared claims data for 8.6 million people enrolled in Medicare Advantage in 2018, and 6.1 million people enrolled in traditional Medicare. The study found that MA beneficiaries were 23.8 percent less likely than traditional Medicare beneficiaries to receive more than one at-home care visit in a year. The numbers of people receiving more than one at-home care visit were low in both groups — 2.1 percent of traditional Medicare beneficiaries received more than one at-home care visit in 2018, compared to 1.6 percent of MA enrollees.
Medicare Advantage beneficiaries were 31 times more likely to receive exactly one at-home visit in 2018 than traditional Medicare enrollees. In 2018, 18.6 percent of MA enrollees received one at-home care visit, compared to 0.6 percent of traditional Medicare beneficiaries.
Rates of one-time at-home care varied among insurers. The study found 1 in 4 UnitedHealthcare enrollees received one home health visit in 2018, and 1 in 5 Humana and Aetna enrollees had one home health visit during the year. Fewer than 1 in 10 Blue Cross Blue Shield enrollees had a home health visit in 2018.
The study was written by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. Read the full study here.