Medicaid’s Long-Term Care Beneficiaries: An Analysis of Spending Patterns

Publication Date: November 2006

Publisher: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

Author(s):

Research Area: Health

Type: Brief

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

This analysis of spending patterns of Medicaid's long-term care users (LTC) reveals that the 7% of Medicaid beneficiaries using LTC account for over half (52%) of all Medicaid spending. Medicaid's LTC users not only use LTC services, but they also use the program's acute care services more intensively than non-LTC users. Three-quarters of the spending by these high-cost LTC users went towards LTC (community-based and institutional care) and the remaining 25% went towards acute care and other supportive services. These high-cost beneficiaries are among the most disabled and chronically ill of the Medicaid population, with over half being elderly, one-third being disabled and under age 65, and 11% being adults or children not classified as disabled.