DataPoint: Medicare Geographic Variation, 2017

In 2017, Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) spending on post-acute care (PAC) skilled nursing services for beneficiaries aged 65 and older in New York State was over $1.75 billion, increasing 1.1 percent since 2016 and 10.6 percent since 2012. This spending ranked second nationally and represented 9.81 percent of all Medicare FFS costs for beneficiaries 65 and older statewide. In contrast, Medicare home health spending declined by 0.8 percent since 2012. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Medicare geographic variation public use files, New York State skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) ranked second in per capita actual cost, trailing only New Jersey. Over 87,000 Medicare FFS beneficiaries used SNF services during 2017, which represented a 2.1 percent decrease since 2016. The 87,000 Medicare FFS SNF beneficiaries represented the fourth highest utilization percentage nationwide. The CMS data also revealed that 5.92 percent of all Medicare FFS beneficiaries in New York State used PAC SNFs in 2017, which was the lowest utilization percentage over the 11-year reporting cycle. However, from 2007 to 2017, as Medicare FFS utilization decreased, Medicare Advantage enrollment increased by 85.7 percent.

The geographic variation public use file displays utilization and quality of health care services and represents only the Medicare FFS population. The CMS public use file allows users to find demographic, spending, and utilization data at the state and county level from 2007 to 2017. Additionally, CMS provides geographic variation dashboards.

Contact: Ken Allison, kallison@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8820