Medicare Spending Higher Among Older Adults With Disabilities Who Lack Adequate Support

A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found more than one in five older adults who were aging in place with a mobility or self-care impairment experienced negative consequences due to no one being available to help, or the activity being too difficult to perform alone, reports EurekAlert . In addition, Medicare spending was higher for this group versus older adults with disabilities who did not experience adverse consequences. "The data allow us to see on a granular level how many people are in situations where they don't receive the help they need to perform daily activities," says the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Jennifer Wolff. "We are able to link that number to a public payer like Medicare and see how much extra the public is paying for services to older adults due to lack of adequate support with basic daily activities." Among seniors with impairments in household activities, Medicare spending did not vary appreciably by whether they experienced negative consequences. "To date, there has been little evidence of the potential magnitude of healthcare savings related to better meeting older adults' care needs," notes Wolff. "This study suggests there may be value in terms of both quality of care and reduced costs associated with a broader orientation for paying for services."