by Ty Tagami | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Georgia ranked near the bottom of a first-ever analysis of Medicare performance by a foundation that promotes access to quality health care.
The new rankings by The Commonwealth Fund put Georgia in 42nd place out of 50 states and Washington, D.C. — behind Alaska and ahead of New Mexico.
Georgia scored poorly for several reasons. It had a relatively high rate of beneficiaries who took a drug that the elderly should avoid. Its rate for pressure sores among residents of long-stay nursing homes was above the national average.
And people aged 65 and older rated their health as fair or poor more frequently than the norm in surveys. They also reported more difficulty dressing or walking and more often reported loneliness and food insecurity.
Fund staffers involved in the analysis said they included measures such as loneliness and food insecurity because plans in Medicare Advantage — a privately managed alternative to original Medicare — sometimes offer programs to address those issues. State policy also can influence food insecurity, they said.
The Georgia agency that serves Medicare beneficiaries and caregivers had no comment about the findings. The Georgia Department of Human Services merely aids and informs through its State Health Insurance Assistance Program, a spokeswoman said. The federal government administers Medicare.
States with lower health care costs tended to do better in the rankings because recipients shoulder a portion of the expense and are more likely to seek care when they can afford it.
Outcomes on many of the 31 Medicare performance measures, which used data from the last several years, were likely driven by bigger factors than Medicare itself.
States that scored better tended to have health care systems that perform well for everyone, not just those 65 and older who qualify for Medicare.
“When people are sick coming into Medicare, they tend to be really sick when they’re in Medicare,” David Radley, a senior scientist at the Fund, said at a media briefing last week.
Vermont ranked first and Minnesota ranked third. Both have low uninsured rates among younger adults, he noted.
“That means people, if they are sick, if they do have a chronic illness, they’re much more likely to be having that chronic illness managed and keeping that disease in check as they age into Medicare,” he said, “because they’re more likely to be insured and have good access to care younger in life.”
