Medicare Data Updates Show Embedded Disparities - Justice in Aging

On September 3, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released updated Medicare claims data on COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations. The data now covers claims through July 18, and shows that the deep disparities in both infections and hospitalizations between Medicare-only enrollees and enrollees dually eligible for Medicaid and among Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic Medicare enrollees compared to white enrollees have persisted throughout the pandemic. For example, dually eligible individuals have continued to be hospitalized at a rate of 4.5 times higher than individuals enrolled in Medicare only, with rates 6 times higher among people ages 65-84. Hospitalization rates compared to white Medicare enrollees are 3.8 times higher for Black enrollees, 3.3 times higher for American Indian/Alaska Native enrollees, and 2.6 times higher for Hispanic enrollees. The data also shows that one in every four Medicare enrollees who has been hospitalized with COVID-19 has died before being discharged. These 51,000 deaths are an undercount of COVID-19 related deaths among Medicare enrollees because of data lags and because the count does not include people who died outside of the hospital. Finally, this data update reveals that Medicare enrollees have experienced spikes in infections and hospitalizations congruent with the spikes among U.S. residents, including a spike in July.