tci Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement - 2006 Issue 32

MEDICARE: Mystery Solved? Your Patients With Multiple Conditions to Blame For Skyrocketing Medicare Spending

New study pegs obesity as major culprit as well.Beneficiaries with three or more conditions accounted for more than 92 percent of Medicare spending in 2002, researchers discovered. More aggressive treatment and preventive services for ailments such as obesity and metabolic syndrome have triggered escalating spending on Medicare benes. But researchers are wondering whether these more aggressive treatments will only snowball into additional spending in years to come.More than half of all Medicare benes are receiving treatment for five or more conditions, up from 31 percent in 1987. These benes alone caused 76 percent of all Medicare spending...

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