@article {8357, title = {Age Differences in the Association Between Body Mass Index Class and Annualized Medicare Expenditures.}, journal = {J Aging Health}, volume = {28}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Feb}, pages = {165-79}, publisher = {28}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to assess the relationship between body mass index (BMI) class and Medicare claims among young-old (65-69), old (70-74), and old-old (75+) adults over a 10-year period.

METHOD: We assessed costs by BMI class and age group among 9,300 respondents to the 1998 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) with linked 1998-2008 Medicare claims data. BMI was classified as normal (18.5-24.9), overweight (25-29.9), mild obesity (30-34.9), or severe obesity (35 or above).

RESULTS: Annualized total Medicare claims adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, education, and smoking history were 109\% greater for severely obese young-old adults in comparison with normal weight young-old adults (US$9,751 vs. US$4,663). Total annualized claim differences between the normal weight and severely obese in the old and old-old groups were not statistically significant.

DISCUSSION: Excess Medicare expenditures related to obesity may be concentrated among severely obese young-old adults. Preventing severe obesity among middle and older aged adults may have large cost implications for society.

}, keywords = {Age Factors, Aged, Body Mass Index, Female, Health Expenditures, Humans, Male, Medicare, Obesity, United States}, issn = {1552-6887}, doi = {10.1177/0898264315589574}, url = {http://jah.sagepub.com/content/28/1/165}, author = {Daniel O. Clark and Kathleen A Lane and Ambuehl, Roberta and Tu, Wanzhu and Chiung-Ju Liu and Kathleen T. Unroe and Christopher M. Callahan} } @article {8037, title = {Utilization of occupational and physical therapy services in postacute care: Findings from the 2006 health and retirement study and linked medicare claims data}, journal = {Physical and Occupational Therapy in Geriatrics}, volume = {32}, year = {2014}, note = {Export Date: 21 April 2014 Source: Scopus}, pages = {85-96}, publisher = {32}, abstract = {Aims: To describe and determine factors predicting utilization of occupational and physical therapy (PT) services in postacute rehabilitation systems over a 1-year period in Medicare beneficiaries. Methods: Data from 1,667 respondents in the 2006 Health and Retirement Study and linked Medicare claims were analyzed. Results: The average length of inpatient rehabilitation stay ranged between 11 and 17 days. Therapeutic procedures were the most commonly claimed Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes in outpatient rehabilitation. Very-high level was the mostly claimed resource utilization group (RUG) in skilled nursing facilities. Additionally, the average number of therapy home visit ranged between 31 and 34. Logistic regression analysis showed that greater age and more comorbidities were associated with using therapy services from two or more postacute care (PAC) systems. Conclusion: The study results increase the understanding of the utilization of rehabilitation therapy services across PAC systems and provide basic information for rehabilitation services planning. 2014 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc.}, keywords = {Healthcare, Medicare/Medicaid/Health Insurance}, url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/02703181.2014.883044}, author = {Chiung-Ju Liu and Timothy E. Stump and Ambuehl, Roberta and Daniel O. Clark} }