Health Affairs Publishes Age-Friendly Health Paper in November Issue
An Age-Friendly Health series paper has been published in the November 2023 issue of Health Affairs.
The Age-Friendly Health series aims to inform health policies and covers new issues related to building more equitable, high-quality health systems for older adults.
Medicare Care Choices Model Improved End-Of-Life Care, Lowered Medicare Expenditures, And Increased Hospice Use by Keith Kranker, Matthew J. Niedzwiecki, R. Vincent Pohl, Tonya L. Saffer, Arnold Chen, Jonathan Gellar, Lauren Vollmer Forrow and Lynn Miescier.
The Medicare Care Choices Model (MCCM) tested a new option for eligible Medicare beneficiaries to receive conventional treatment for terminal conditions along with supportive and palliative care from participating hospice providers. Using claims data, the researchers estimated differences in average outcomes from enrollment to death between deceased MCCM enrollees and matched comparison beneficiaries who received usual services covered by original Medicare. Enrollees were 15 percentage points less likely to receive an aggressive life-prolonging treatment at the end of life and spent more than five more days at home. MCCM also reduced net Medicare expenditures by 13 percent, decreased inpatient admissions by 26 percent, reduced outpatient emergency department visits by 12 percent, and increased hospice use by 18 percentage points.
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