Caitlin Nordahl | Apr 22, 2017

Reports look at gender and ethnic differences in Medicare Advantage care

The Centers for Medicare and  Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Minority Health recently released two reports on Medicare Advantage enrollees’ quality of care, one on the difference between men and women and one on the differences between racial and ethnic groups.

“This is the first time that CMS has released Medicare Advantage data on racial and ethnic disparities in care separately for women and men,” CMS Office of Minority Health Director Cara James said in a release. “Showing the data this way helps us to understand the intersection between a person’s race, ethnicity and gender and their health care.”

The report focused on gender found significant differences in treatment for some conditions. Women typically received better care for chronic lung disease and rheumatoid arthritis and follow-up care after being hospitalized for a mental health disorder. The report also said women in need of treatment of alcohol or drug dependence were less likely to receive timely treatment than their male counterparts.

In the report comparing treatment provided to racial and ethnic groups, which was also separated by gender, the CMS found that the differences between black and white men were larger than those between women for colorectal cancer screenings, chronic lung disease treatment, acute myocardial infarction treatment and management of rheumatoid arthritis.

The report on gender is available at https://www.cms.gov/About-CMS/Agency-Information/OMH/Downloads/Health-Disparities-Gender-Disparities-National-Report.pdf

The report on racial and gender groups is available at https://www.cms.gov/About-CMS/Agency-Information/OMH/Downloads/Health-Disparities-Racial-and-Ethnic-Disparities-by-Gender-National-Report.pdf.

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