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COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations Among Medicare Beneficiaries With and Without Disabilities – United States, January 1, 2020 – November 20, 2021: An Easy Read Summary
What is CMS?
CMS is an agency that is part of the United States government. CMS stands for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. CMS makes sure Medicare, Medicaid and some other healthcare insurance programs work as they should.
Who can get Medicare Insurance?
Some people with disabilities who are younger than 65 can get Medicare insurance.
People age 65 and older can get Medicare insurance.
What was this study about?
This study looked at whether adults with disabilities who have Medicare were more likely to get COVID-19 than adults over the age of 65 who have Medicare.
This study also looked at whether adults with disabilities who have Medicare were more likely to have to be treated in the hospital for COVID-19 than adults over the age of 65 who have Medicare.
Where did the information for this study come from?
- The information for this study came from Medicare claims records between January 2020 and November 2021. Medicare claims are when a doctor or hospital sends a bill to Medicare to pay for the care of their patient who has Medicare insurance.
- Medicare records of 68,911,412 people with Medicare insurance were looked at for this study.
What did this study find?
- Adults with disabilities who have Medicare were more likely to get COVID-19 than adults age 65 and older who have Medicare based on their age.
- Adults with disabilities who have Medicare were more likely to be treated in the hospital for COVID-19 than adults age 65 and older who have Medicare based on their age.
- American Indian and Alaska Native people who had Medicare were most likely to be treated in the hospital for COVID-19 compared to people from other races or ethnicities. This was found for American Indian and Alaska Native people whether they had Medicare because of disabilities or because they were age 65 or older.
Why is this important?
The findings from this study can help make sure people with disabilities stay safe from COVID-19. It is important to understand how COVID-19 affects people with disabilities. Some people with disabilities are more likely to get very sick or die from COVID-19 than people without disabilities. Getting a COVID-19 shot is the best way to protect yourself and the person you support from COVID-19. It is also important for people with disabilities to get a booster shot as soon as possible. Ask your doctor if you should get a COVID-19 vaccine.
About 1 out of 10 adults with Medicare-eligible disabilities got COVID-19 between January 2020 and November 2021.
Reference
COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations Among Medicare Beneficiaries With and Without Disabilities — United States, January 1, 2020–November 20, 2021.
MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022;71:791–796.
Yuan Y, Thierry JM, Bull-Otterson L, et al.
