TABLE 3.
Ratios of Medicare Part A Costs by Race/Ethnic Groups
| Unadjusted Model |
Cluster Adjusted |
Model 1 |
Model 2 |
Model 3 |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Costs | Cost Ratio (95% CI) |
p Value | Cost Ratio (95% CI) |
p Value | Cost Ratio (95% CI) |
p Value | Cost Ratio (95% CI) |
p Value | Cost Ratio (95% CI) |
p Value |
| Among all patients | ||||||||||
| Index admission | ||||||||||
| Black | 1.18 (1.15-1.22) | <0.001 | 1.02 (0.99-1.05) | 0.232 | 0.99 (0.96-1.02) | 0.344 | 0.98 (0.95-1.01) | 0.278 | 0.98 (0.95-1.02) | 0.317 |
| Hispanic | 1.25 (1.20-1.30) | <0.001 | 1.04 (0.99-1.09) | 0.107 | 1.01 (0.96-1.05) | 0.702 | 1.01 (0.97-1.06) | 0.599 | 1.01 (0.96-1.05) | 0.750 |
| Asian | 1.13 (1.05-1.21) | <0.001 | 0.96 (0.90-1.04) | 0.314 | 0.96 (0.89-1.02) | 0.207 | 0.95 (0.89-1.02) | 0.145 | 0.95 (0.88-1.02) | 0.128 |
| Other | 1.16 (1.04-1.30) | 0.008 | 1.04 (0.93-1.15) | 0.492 | 1.00 (0.90-1.11) | 0.978 | 0.99 (0.90-1.10) | 0.912 | 0.99 (0.89-1.10) | 0.864 |
| White | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | |||||
| Among readmitted patients | ||||||||||
| At 30 days | ||||||||||
| Black | 1.22 (1.13-1.31) | <0.001 | 1.14 (1.06-1.23) | <0.001 | 1.10 (1.03-1.18) | 0.006 | 1.10 (1.03-1.18) | 0.007 | 1.09 (1.01-1.17) | 0.020 |
| Hispanic | 1.19 (1.08-1.32) | <0.001 | 1.09 (0.98-1.21) | 0.098 | 1.05 (0.95-1.16) | 0.361 | 1.06 (0.95-1.17) | 0.283 | 1.01 (0.91-1.13) | 0.810 |
| Asian | 1.18 (0.98-1.41) | 0.080 | 1.11 (0.93-1.33) | 0.237 | 1.10 (0.92-1.31) | 0.287 | 1.08 (0.91-1.29) | 0.371 | 1.04 (0.87-1.23) | 0.701 |
| Other | 1.11 (0.83-1.49) | 0.484 | 1.04 (0.79-1.38) | 0.781 | 0.97 (0.74-1.27) | 0.836 | 0.96 (0.73-1.26) | 0.767 | 0.95 (0.72-1.25) | 0.715 |
| White | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | |||||
| At 1 yr | ||||||||||
| Black | 1.42 (1.36-1.48) | <0.001 | 1.27 (1.22-1.33) | <0.001 | 1.14 (1.10-1.19) | <.0001 | 1.14 (1.09-1.19) | <0.001 | 1.14 (1.09-1.18) | <0.001 |
| Hispanic | 1.41 (1.33-1.49) | <0.001 | 1.19 (1.11-1.27) | <0.001 | 1.08 (1.01-1.15) | 0.018 | 1.08 (1.02-1.15) | 0.015 | 1.07 (1.00-1.14) | 0.041 |
| Asian | 1.21 (1.10-1.35) | <0.001 | 1.11 (0.99-1.23) | 0.063 | 1.08 (0.98-1.19) | 0.137 | 1.07 (0.97-1.19) | 0.161 | 1.06 (0.96-1.17) | 0.260 |
| Other | 1.44 (1.24-1.66) | <0.001 | 1.40 (1.21-1.61) | <0.001 | 1.25 (1.08-1.43) | 0.002 | 1.25 (1.08-1.43) | 0.002 | 1.24 (1.08-1.42) | 0.003 |
| White | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | Reference | |||||
The unadjusted model did not include hospital random intercepts; all other models included hospital random intercepts. Model 1 was adjusted for patient characteristics only; model 2 was adjusted for patient and hospital characteristics; model 3 was adjusted for patient, hospital characteristics, and regional SES variables based on patient zip code.
CI = confidence interval; p = p value; SES = socioeconomic status.