NEWS ALERT
July
28, 2020
CMS
Updates Data on COVID-19 Impacts on Medicare Beneficiaries
The
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today released its
first monthly update of data that provides a snapshot of the impact
of COVID-19 on the Medicare population. For the first time, the
snapshot includes data for American Indian/Alaskan Native Medicare
beneficiaries. The new data indicate that American Indian/Alaskan
Native beneficiaries have the second highest rate of
hospitalization for COVID-19 among racial/ethnic groups after
Blacks. Previously, the number of hospitalizations of American
Indian/Alaskan Native beneficiaries was too low to be reported.
The
updated data confirm that the COVID-19 public health emergency is
disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations, particularly
racial and ethnic minorities. This is due, in part, to the higher
rates of chronic health conditions in these populations and issues
related to the social determinants of health.
In
response to the first Medicare data snapshot and related call to
action from CMS Administrator Seema Verma on June 22, the CMS
Office of Minority Health hosted three listening sessions with
stakeholders who serve and represent racial and ethnic minority
Medicare beneficiaries. These sessions provided helpful insight
into ways in which CMS can address social risks and other barriers
to health care that will help in our efforts to reduce health
disparities.
The
updated data on COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations of Medicare
beneficiaries covers the period from January 1 to June 20, 2020. It
is based on Medicare claims and encounter data CMS received by July
17, 2020.
Other
key data points:
- Black beneficiaries
continue to be hospitalized at higher rates than other racial
and ethnic groups, with 670 hospitalizations per 100,000
beneficiaries.
- Beneficiaries
eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid – who often suffer
from multiple chronic conditions and have low incomes – were
hospitalized at a rate more than 4.5 times higher than
beneficiaries with Medicare only (719 versus 153 per 100,000).
- Beneficiaries with
end-stage renal disease (ESRD) continue to be hospitalized at
higher rates than other segments of the Medicare population,
with 1,911 hospitalizations per 100,000 beneficiaries,
compared with 241 per 100,000 for aged and 226 per 100,000 for
disabled.
- CMS paid $2.8
billion in Medicare fee-for-service claims for COVID-related
hospitalizations, or an average of $25,255 per beneficiary.
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