Cost Analysis in LTC: Analyzing Effects of Case-Mix & Setting on Medicare/Medicaid Expenditures

Robert L. Kane, Andrea Wysocki, Shriram Parashuram, Tetyana Shippee, and Terry Lum, researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and the University of Hong Kong, have released their study, “Effect of Long-term Care Use on Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures for Dual Eligible and Non-dual Eligble Elderly Beneficiaries,” comparing the effects on costs by level of care and location, including nursing home or community care.  The report offers findings that may be surprising for critics of nursing home cost, suggesting that nursing homes may actually be “subsidizing Medicare by reducing hospital use and lowering medical expenditures.” The report is published in the peer-reviewed, on-line Medicare & Medicaid Research Review, a publication of CMS, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.