Seniors’ Unmet Social Needs Drive Greater Acute Care Utilization

  • Aug 04, 2022

    Health-related social needs (HRSNs) can increase acute care utilization among Medicare Advantage members — including avoidable hospital stays and emergency department (ED) visits — asserts a July 8 investigation published in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s Health Forum. Researchers studied a group of about 56,000 older adults enrolled in MA plans offered by Humana Inc., and found that HRSNs, such as housing, utility and food insecurity, limited access to transportation, and financial difficulties, were associated with significantly higher acute care usage. Notably, 13.6% of the selected population were Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibles, a particularly vulnerable cohort. Read more
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  • Carina Belles

    Carina has been covering public-sector health care since 2018. As a data reporter for Radar on Medicare Advantage, she creates infographics and data stories on issues impacting Medicare, Medicaid and Part D. She also develops AIS Health Daily, a free daily newsletter that showcases AIS’s strong reporting across our four publications and parent company Norstella’s suite of market access and data solutions. Prior to joining the editorial team, she managed Medicare and Medicaid data for the Directory of Health Plans, AIS’s industry-standard health coverage database. She graduated from Ohio University with a B.S. in Journalism.

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