Drug Use and Spending for Medicare Beneficiaries During Part A Qualifying Skilled Nursing Facility Stays and Non-Qualifying Long-Term Care Facility Stays

摘要

This policy brief has three aims. The first is to characterize Medicare-qualified skilled nursing facility (SNF) stays in relation to other episodes of long-term institutional care that beneficiaries may experience. 'Routine' Long-term care (LTCF) is not a covered benefit and Medicare has no record keeping process for tracking non-SNF-related LTCF episodes. The second aim is to learn more about patterns of medication use and spending during SNF stays. The third aim of this Policy Brief is to compare drug use and spending during SNF and non-qualified LTCF stays for Medicare beneficiaries whno experience both types of episodes.