Medicare Advantage beneficiaries with cancer did not experience any difference in care quality despite having lower treatment costs than beneficiaries with traditional Medicare, according to a study published July 13 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Here are five notes from the study:
- Researchers analyzed Medicare data for 35,245 beneficiaries with a new cancer diagnosis from 2016 to 2019. Of those beneficiaries, 24,269 had traditional Medicare and 10,976 had Medicare Advantage.
- Medicare Advantage was associated with a mean cost savings of $931 compared with traditional Medicare.
- Unadjusted mean treatment costs were $29,252 for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries versus $40,874 for traditional Medicare beneficiaries.
- Medicare Advantage beneficiaries were just as likely to receive optimal, guideline-concordant treatment for their cancer type as traditional Medicare beneficiaries.
- Median time to treatment initiation was nearly identical between the two groups — 36 days for Medicare Advantage versus 35 days for traditional Medicare.
Read the full study here.
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