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Key Takeaways
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A $3 million National Institute on Aging grant will fund a national study of Medicare Advantage鈥檚 benefit expansion into social supports such as food assistance, transportation, and other non-medical benefits.
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Led by 麻豆视频 health economist Jeah Jung, the five-year study will use Medicare administrative data to examine whether these benefits reduce emergency visits, hospitalizations, and nursing home entry.
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The findings will provide national evidence on who is using these benefits and whether this large-scale federal effort is working as intended.
Today, more than half of older Americans receive their Medicare coverage through private Medicare Advantage plans. In 2020, that program made a sweeping policy shift, allowing those plans to offer supplemental benefits beyond traditional medical care, including groceries, meal deliveries, utilities, transportation, pest control, and air filters.
Now, with an approximately $3 million R01 grant from the National Institute on Aging, will lead a national study to evaluate whether those benefits reduce adverse health events and improve functional outcomes.
鈥淗ealth-related social needs, such as food security, housing quality, reliable transportation, and social support, are increasingly recognized as important contributors to individuals鈥 health,鈥 said Jung, a professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy. Despite the wide rollout of the new initiative to meet those needs, she said, 鈥渢here is currently no information or evidence of how many people are using it, how they鈥檙e using it, and whether it鈥檚 actually bringing the intended outcomes.鈥
As of 2025,, were enrolled in Medicare Advantage, the private alternative to traditional Medicare. According to Jung鈥檚 data analysis, more than 30% of Medicare Advantage plans adopted non-medical supplemental benefits by 2025. Meanwhile, she found that more than 90% of dual-eligible special needs plans鈥攕erving low-income beneficiaries enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid鈥adopted the benefits.
鈥淭his is a really large-scale initiative by Medicare to address unmet social needs and see whether that helps maintain and improve beneficiaries鈥 health outcomes as well,鈥 Jung said. 鈥淲ith an investment of this size, we want to see evidence on how it鈥檚 working and who it鈥檚 reaching so the policy can be refined in the future.鈥
Using secure Medicare administrative data, Jung鈥檚 five-year project will examine whether the availability of non-medical benefits is associated with changes in emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and whether patient can remain in their homes and communities rather than enter nursing homes. The study will also analyze who uses the new benefits, and whether uptake differs by demographics, such as race, ethnicity, sex, health risks, and area-level socioeconomic factors.
The project will also include contributions from , professor and chair of the Department of Social Work in the College of Public Health. Researchers from Oregon Health & Science University and Dartmouth College are serving as co-investigators.