06/26/2025

Study Reveals Longer Hospital Stays for Medicare Advantage Enrollees Before Transitioning to Post-Acute Care

A recent analysis conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago sheds new light on hospital discharge patterns for Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollees compared to those enrolled in traditional fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare. The study, which reviewed encounter claims data from 2018 to 2022, found that MA enrollees experienced longer hospital stays—ranging from 2 to 9 additional days—prior to transitioning to post-acute care (PAC).

The findings are especially notable for MA beneficiaries discharged to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), where hospital length of stay increased by 29%, and to home health services, where length of stay was 20% longer, compared to their FFS counterparts.

While the study did not examine the role of prior authorization requirements or availability of PAC services, the data raise important questions about how MA plan policies may influence discharge timing and transitions of care.

Additional findings include:

• MA hospital discharges to PAC increased by 5.6% between 2018 and 2022
  
  
• Traditional Medicare discharges to PAC declined by 1.5% over the same period
  
  
• MA enrollees are 12.4% more likely to be discharged to home health than traditional Medicare beneficiaries

These trends highlight the need for ongoing monitoring of MA utilization patterns and their impact on care delivery for older adults.

The full bulletin is available on the LeadingAge website.