Duals, Minorities Were Hardest Hit by COVID Among Medicare Beneficiaries, CMS Reports

In a preliminary analysis of fee-for-service Medicare claims and Medicare Advantage encounter data from Jan. 1, 2020, to July 24, 2021, CMS reported more than 4.6 million COVID-19 cases and 1.3 million related hospitalizations among all 63.1 million Medicare beneficiaries. Cases per 100,000 lives varied significantly by state, with Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey and New York seeing the highest rates. COVID-related hospitalizations were more prevalent among Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibles, particularly those who identify as Black or Hispanic. Medicare has paid $18.9 billion for fee-for-service COVID hospitalizations, as of July 24, 2021.

 

NOTES: CMS notes that its claims and encounter data are typically not used for public health surveillance due to lag times between when a service occurs and when the claim or encounter is logged in the database. About 90% of fee-for-service claims are submitted within three months, while 90% of MA encounters are reported within 12 months. All data in the snapshot is preliminary and will be adjusted as the agency continues to process additional claims and encounters. "AI/AN" refers to American Indian/Alaska Native.

SOURCE: Preliminary Medicare COVID-19 Data Snapshot, CMS. Visit https://go.cms.gov/3EXJIR3.

 

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