Medicare Advantage outperforms fee-for-service in cost, care for dual eligibles

Fierce Healthcare May 23, 2019
Jacqueline Renfrow

Medicare Advantage outperforms fee-for-service in latest Avalere study.

For dually eligible beneficiaries, Medicare Advantage (MA) plans outperform Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) plans, according to a new study from Avalere.

The study compared the costs and outcomes across MA versus FFS plans for dual eligibles with one or more of three chronic conditions: hypertension, hyperlipidemia and/or diabetes. Specifically, the overall cost of care was 16.7% higher for those in traditional Medicare when researchers factored in quality measure outcomes and the use of expensive health services such as emergency department visits.

Christie Teigland, principal at Avalere and co-author of the study, told FierceHealthcare that analysts were surprised to see that MA beneficiaries had virtually the same prevalence of the top 20 chronic...

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