Two new reports examining the quality of care received by Medicare Advantage enrollees reveal several nuances in the patient experience as reported by ethnic/racial group and gender, as well as “sizable differences” in the quality of treatment for certain conditions among MA beneficiaries, such as black and white men with rheumatoid arthritis, observes CMS. Health plans are encouraged to use the new observations to examine their own data and find areas where they can make improvements in delivering care quality.
In a first-ever look at quality-of-care data stratified by contract and ethnicity, CMS in April 2016 observed significant health disparities between minority groups and whites in MA plans (MAN 4/21/16, p. 1).
