Dually eligible individuals with AIDS: Characteristics and health services use

Usha Sambamoorthi, Sara Collins, Stephen Crystal

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper explores the prevalence and health care utilization of dually eligible Medicare and Medicaid participants among New Jersey Medicaid recipients with AIDS using linked administrative data. Merged Medicaid claims and AIDS surveillance data were used to analyze participation in the Medicare program by Medicaid recipients in New Jersey diagnosed with AIDS who received services between January 1988 and March 1996. We found that nearly 30% of Medicaid participants had Medicare claims during the observation period, suggesting that Medicare is becoming an important payer of HIV care among individuals eligible for Medicaid. Traditionally disadvantaged groups such as women and racial minorities were less likely to be dually eligible for Medicare, reflecting differences in survival and in eligibility requirements for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Controlling for other characteristics, dually eligible individuals had shorter lengths of stay and had lower charges per inpatient stay than Medicaid only enrollees. Dual eligibles were also more likely to use antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and were more consistent users of ARV treatment measured by the proportion of time on ARV therapy. Our study suggests that persons with AIDS who may qualify for Medicare because of their disability are different than individuals who only received Medicaid reimbursed services in terms of their health care utilization. Further research is needed to determine the cause of such differences which may include socioeconomic differences between dual eligibles and Medicaid only eligibles, dissimilarities in health status between the two groups, and variation in aspects of insurance coverage particularly in the choice and reimbursement of office-based physicians.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)19-35
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Health and Social Policy
Volume14
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2001

Keywords

  • AIDS
  • Antiretroviral treatment
  • Dually eligibles
  • Inpatient use
  • Medicaid/Medicare

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