DataPoint: Medicare Geographic Variation

In 2016, 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 $1.7 billion. This spending ranked second nationally and represented 9.87 percent of all Medicare FFS costs for beneficiaries 65 and older statewide. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Medicare geographic variation public use file, in New York State, over 89,000 elderly Medicare beneficiaries used skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) during 2016. The 89,000 Medicare FFS SNF beneficiaries represented the fourth highest utilization nationwide, although that number decreased 9.91 percent over the past decade. The CMS data also revealed that 5.97 percent of all Medicare FFS beneficiaries in New York State used PAC SNFs in 2016, which was the lowest utilization percentage over the 10-year reporting cycle. However, this time period coincided with an increase in Medicare Advantage enrollment.

The geographic variation public use file displays utilization and quality of health care services and represented 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 2016. Additionally, CMS provides geographic variation dashboards.

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