Factors Affecting End-of-Life Care for Beneficiaries Who Are Dually Eligible for Medicare and Medicaid

What are the factors affecting end-of-life care for the dually eligible? Using the “Multi-State Dual Eligible Data Files” developed by Mathematica under contract with CMS, researchers at the Urban Institute examined (1) services provided by the Medicare and Medicaid programs, as well as variations among states; (2) the composition of and proportion of expenditures on end-of-life care (e.g., hospital, physician, prescription drug, long-term care); (3) variation in use and expenditures over time between health and long-term care services; and (4) variation by race and age in utilization, expenditures and source of financing end-of-life care. The objective of this study was to inform policymakers and providers about the patterns of use of care at the end-of-life by dual eligibles in order that they might re-examine and improve current policies addressing such care.