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Improving Long-Term Nursing Facility Care:
New Brief from Mathematica Suggests Shifting Care from Medicaid to Medicare
for Dual Eligibles
Media Advisory: March 4, 2010
Contact: Amy Berridge, (609) 945-3378; Jim Verdier, (202) 484-4520
Issue: More than half of all nursing facility residents are dually eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid, enmeshing them in a system of care and coverage that is complex, fragmented, uncoordinated, and inefficient.
A new policy brief from Mathematica Policy Research suggests that coordination of care for these dual eligibles could be improved by shifting responsibility for long-term nursing facility services from Medicaid to Medicare.
Quote: “This would admittedly be a large leap in health care policymaking,” says Mathematica senior fellow James Verdier, author of the brief. “However, there are also some more incremental steps that could increase accountability for prescription drug use, reduce avoidable hospitalizations, cut costs, and improve overall care. It is also important to ensure that Medicaid home- and community-based service programs and nursing facility care remain coordinated for those who can be cared for in the community.”
Brief: Coordinating and Improving Care for Dual Eligibles in Nursing Facilities: Current Obstacles and Pathways to Improvement, James M. Verdier, March 2010.
About Mathematica: Mathematica Policy Research, a nonpartisan research firm, provides a full range of research and data collection services, including program evaluation and policy research, survey design and data collection, research assessment and interpretation, and program performance/data management, to improve public well-being. Its clients include federal and state governments, foundations, and private-sector and international organizations. The employee-owned company, with offices in Princeton, N.J., Ann Arbor, Mich., Cambridge, Mass., Chicago, Ill., Oakland, Calif., and Washington, D.C., has conducted some of the most important studies of health care, international, disability, education, family support, employment, nutrition, and early childhood policies and programs.