What trends can be seen in Medicare payments for various income levels?
Residents with the highest income relied the most heavily on Medicare as a source of payment, indicating that they may have received the most concentrated nursing home services. Nursing home residents having care reimbursed by Medicare are the most likely to be recovering from conditions that require a greater intensity of service (Shaughnessy and Kramer, 1990). The proportion of annual expenses per resident paid for by Medicare was markedly higher in 1996 than in 1987 for each income category, and the increase from 1987 to 1996 was greater with higher income. The proportion of annual nursing home expenses per resident paid for by Medicaid (data not shown) fell for the two highest income categories.
