Findings released today and detailed in the analysis Low Consumption and Higher Medicare Cost: Consumption Clusters in a Medicare Fee-for-Service Population, examine how individuals utilize benefits and services under the Medicare program. The research suggests that beneficiaries with chronic diseases who consume the least of their Medicare benefits and services (referred to as "low consumers") and potentially under manage their disease may experience an acute event that requires costly emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
The research, spearheaded by the National Minority Quality Forum (The Forum), analyzed Medicare data over a six-year period. The Forum found that Medicare beneficiaries may be clustered into five consumption groups (crisis consumers, heavy consumers, moderate consumers, light consumers and low consumers) based on how much Medicare reimburses for services provided to beneficiaries in any year. The two most-costly clusters are crisis consumers and heavy consumers -- representing only 11 percent of Medicare beneficiaries, but 65 percent of all costs. These are dynamic clusters as consumption patterns among beneficiaries can significantly vary from one year to the next. Beneficiaries who are low consumers one year may become heavy consumers the next sparked by a critical and often costly health event. There is ample evidence that in the immediate future, significant increases in reimbursements may be anticipated for those beneficiaries with diabetes who rank among the lowest consumers of benefits. It is likely that similar patterns exist for those with other chronic diseases.
"The findings paint a new picture of the Medicare beneficiary living with a chronic disease and how that individual utilizes the program," said Gary Puckrein, PhD., Founding Partner of the Diabetes Care Project and President and CEO of the National Minority Quality Forum. "If we can identify these patients, who are under-managing their chronic condition putting them at high-risk for disease complications, we can intervene to help these individuals manage their disease more effectively, and, ultimately, reduce overall health care costs." One out of every four Medicare dollars is spent on beneficiaries with diabetes, with a high percentage attributed to tertiary illness caused by unmanaged or under-managed diabetes.