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As part of National Minority Health Month 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) released two reports detailing the type of care received by individuals as part of Medicare Advantage (MA).
“This is the first time that CMS has released Medicare Advantage data on racial and ethnic disparities in care separately for women and men,” said Dr. Cara James, Director of the CMS Office of Minority Health in a news release. “Showing the data this way helps us to understand the intersection between a person’s race, ethnicity, and gender and their health care.”
One report focuses on gender and revealed “sizable differences” (both positive and negative) in the quality of treatment for certain conditions among MA beneficiaries.
As an example, the report determined that women received better treatment for chronic lung disease and rheumatoid arthritis. They were also more likely than men to receive “proper follow-up care” after being hospitalized for a mental health disorder.
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In contrast, women were less likely than men to receive “timely treatment for alcohol or drug dependence.” Women were also more likely to be dispensed medications that are potentially harmful to people with certain medical conditions.
The second report dealt with racial and ethnic group comparisons also broken down by gender. Some of the findings include, compared with White women, Latinas reported “worse patient experiences.” Latino men also reported having similar “worse patient experiences” compared to White men.
Also, Latino men reported having worse communication with their doctors compared to White men.
The information sheds light on the still wide breadth of disparities that Latinos have in health care compared to Whites. The goal of the reports is to shed light on areas in which minorities face difficulties in achieving health equity.
Each April, in recognition of National Minority Health Month, CMS plans to make additional reports available online on the CMS OMH website.
You can read more about the reports here.
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By The Numbers
25.1
percent
of Latinos remain without health insurance coverage
