CMS Releases Preliminary Data on Impact of COVID-19 on Medicare Population

On June 23, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a preliminary snapshot of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the Medicare population, based on Medicare claims data.

The data released today includes the total number of reported COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries between January 1 and May 16, 2020. The snapshot breaks down COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations for Medicare beneficiaries by state, race/ethnicity, age, gender, dual eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid, and urban/rural locations.

CMS data shows that more than 325,000 Medicare beneficiaries received a diagnosis of COVID-19 between January 1 and May 16, 2020. During this same time period, nearly 110,000 Medicare beneficiaries were hospitalized for COVID-19-related treatment. According to the CMS snapshot released today, Black Medicare beneficiaries were hospitalized with COVID-19 at a rate nearly four times higher than whites.

CMS data shows that:

• End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients had the highest rate of hospitalization among all Medicare beneficiaries, with 1,341 hospitalizations per 100,000 beneficiaries.
• The second highest rate was among beneficiaries enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid (also known as “dual eligible”), with 473 hospitalizations per 100,000 beneficiaries.
• Among racial/ethnic groups, Blacks had the highest hospitalization rate, with 465 per 100,000. Hispanics had 258 hospitalizations per 100,000. Asians had 187 per 100,000 and whites had 123 per 100,000.
• Beneficiaries living in rural areas have fewer cases and lower rates of hospitalization than Medicare beneficiaries living in urban/suburban areas (57 versus 205 hospitalizations per 100,000).