In 2006, Hospitals Spent Less to Treat Patients Enrolled in Medicare Advantage Plans

OPEN MINDS Weekly News Wire Strategic Health Care News In 2006, hospitals spent an average of $10,800 to treat patients enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, which is below the $11,100 average cost of treating patients covered by Medicare’s traditional fee-for-service (FFS) program. In 2006, patients enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans accounted for about 14% the total 12.2 million hospital stays made by Medicare enrollees. Other differences in addition to treatment cost included: Length of stay — 5.2 days for patients with Medicare Advantage and 5.9 days for patients with FFS Medicare Severity . . .