Perioperative Costs of Elective Surgical Procedures in Medicare Advantage Compared With Traditional Medicare

Are the costs of elective surgical episodes lower in Medicare Advantage (MA) compared with traditional Medicare (TM) for similar patients?In this retrospective cohort study of 1.18 million surgical procedures among 1.11 million Medicare beneficiaries, estimated 30-day costs of surgery episodes were 3.1% lower for MA patients than for comparable TM patients. MA patients more often had outpatient surgeries, shorter inpatient hospital stays, received less postacute care, and had fewer readmissions.The findings suggest that lower perioperative costs and resource use offer other potential mechanisms for cost savings in Medicare Advantage.

Corresponding Author: Eran Politzer, PhD, Federmann School of Public Policy and Governance, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mt Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel (eran.politzer@mail.huji.ac.il).

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