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. 2013 Jun 18;3(2):mmrr.003.02.b02.
doi: 10.5600/mmrr.003.02.b02. eCollection 2013.

Medicare payments: how much do chronic conditions matter?

Erkan Erdem  1 , Sergio I Prada  2 , Samuel C Haffer  3
Affiliations

Medicare payments: how much do chronic conditions matter?

Erkan Erdem et al. Medicare Medicaid Res Rev. .

Abstract

Objective: Analyze differences in Medicare Fee-for-Service utilization (i.e., program payments) by beneficiary characteristics, such as gender, age, and prevalence of chronic conditions.

Methods: Using the 2008 and 2010 Chronic Conditions Public Use Files, we conduct a descriptive analysis of enrollment and program payments by gender, age categories, and eleven chronic conditions.

Results: We find that the effect of chronic conditions on Medicare payments is dramatic. Average Medicare payments increase significantly with the number of chronic conditions. Finally, we quantify the effect of individual conditions and find that "Stroke / Transient Ischemic Attack" and "Chronic Kidney Disease" are the costliest chronic conditions for Part A, and "Cancer" and "Chronic Kidney Disease" are the costliest for Part B.

Keywords: Chronic Conditions; Chronic Disease; Dual-Eligibility; Gender/Sex Differences in Health and Health Care; Health Care Costs; Health Promotion / Prevention / Screening; Medicare; Medicare Part A; Medicare Part B; Public Use Files.

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