Key Points
Question
Do Medicare Advantage beneficiaries receive a different quality of care from home health agencies than traditional Medicare beneficiaries do?
Findings
In this cross-sectional study of more than 4 million home health agency admissions, Medicare Advantage beneficiaries were significantly less likely than traditional Medicare beneficiaries to receive treatment from high-quality home health agencies. Relative to traditional Medicare beneficiaries, the rate of receiving high-quality home health agency care was 4.9 percentage points lower for those enrolled in low-quality Medicare Advantage plans and 2.8 percentage points lower for those in high-quality Medicare Advantage plans.
Meaning
Policy makers may consider incentivizing Medicare Advantage plans to include high-quality home health agencies in their networks and improving patient education regarding home health agency quality.
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