Medicare Advantage (MA) has become popular in recent years, with 2023 figures showing that the plans have more than 29 million enrollees. This figure represents 51% of all beneficiaries under Medicare.
Plans under Medicare Advantage have lower premiums while covering additional benefits such as dental and vision. However, enrollees have access to a limited network of practitioners in comparison to enrollees of conventional Medicare.
Additionally, beneficiaries of Medicare Advantage differ from beneficiaries of traditional Medicare across both socioeconomic and health status, with enrollees of the former plans being more likely to have lower incomes and be Hispanic or Black.
Now, a new study has determined that enrolling in Medicare Advantage plans isn’t linked to modified frailty trajectories, in comparison to enrolling in standard Medicare. Frailty is a measure for health in older individuals, with changes in frailty being linked to poor health outcomes.
The study, led by Dr. Sandra M. Shi, focused on determining whether frailty and its trajectories differ between enrollees of standard Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Shi stated that an increasing proportion of the population was enrolling in Medicare Advantage, which provides additional benefits in comparison to standard Medicare.
For their retrospective cohort study, the researchers utilized data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study. Analysis was carried out for the period between August 2023 to March 2024. Participants included in the study were Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years of age and older who dwell in communities.
The final cohort used in the study included 7,063 participants, comprising of 4,040 women and 2,775 men, representing a sample of more than 38 million beneficiaries. Of the final cohort, 4,480 were enrolled in conventional Medicare while the rest were under Medicare Advantage plans.
The researchers calculated frailty using the Fried Frailty Phenotype and a frailty index, determining that those who enrolled in Medicare Advantage experienced similar decreases in frailty over a 12-month period in comparison to those who enrolled in standard Medicare.
In their report, the researchers suggest that more work is required to better understand the health service needs of older individuals with frailty. The study reported its findings in “JAMA Network Open.”
Other researchers involved in the study include Dr. Dae H. Kim, Dr. Chan Mi Park and Dr. Ellen P. McCarthy of the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew Senior Life and Harvard Medical School; Dr. Stephanie Sison of the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School; and Brianne Olivieri-Mui of the Department of Public Health and Health Sciences at Northeastern University.
MA providers such as Astiva Health may need to take a closer look at the specific needs of their clients so that the challenges that come with frailty can be better addressed. This will enhance the quality of life of those seniors.
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