MedPAC: Regional Variation in Service Use Not Same as Medicare Spending

MedPAC found that per capita spending on durable medical equipment and home healthcare in Miami-Dade County were both more than seven times the national average and dramatically above spending in neighboring counties. These types of patterns in the data raise concerns about fraud and abuse by some providers, MedPAC said.

While healthcare spending was found to be high in New York City and Boston, MedPAC found that the use of health services per Medicare beneficiary was 98% of the national average in the New York metropolitan area and equal to the national average in the Boston area.

Use of services was found to be high in areas such as the Oklahoma City metropolitan area (120% of the national average), Houston (122%), and New Orleans (125%). On the flip side, use of services was lower in La Crosse, WI (77% of the national average), Olympia, WA. (80%), Grand Junction, CO (81%), and Sacramento and San Jose, CA (82%).