From 2010 to 2016, the readmission rate decreased 7 percent among patients with stays billed to Medicare and increased 14 percent among uninsured patients, according to the AHRQ, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #248. The readmission rate among patients with stays billed to Medicaid or private insurance remained relatively stable over this 7-year time period.
The 30-day all-cause readmission rate among patients with stays billed to Medicare decreased 7 percent between 2010 and 2016, from 18.3 per 100 index admissions in 2010 to 17.1 per 100 index admissions in 2016. Among patients whose stays were not expected to be covered by insurance (defined as “uninsured”), the readmission rate increased by 14 percent, from 10.4 to 11.8 per 100 index admissions.
However, readmission rates were still highest for patients with Medicare compared to the other groups.
The 30-day all-cause readmission rate was consistently highest among patients with stays billed to Medicare, followed by those with Medicaid, uninsured patients, and those with private insurance. The 30-day all-cause readmission rate was almost twice as high among those with Medicare (17.1 per 100 index admissions in 2016) compared with those who had private insurance (8.6 per 100 index admissions in 2016).
The largest increase in readmission rates from 2010 to 2016 across payers was for patients aged 1-20 years. Blood diseases had the highest readmission rate (25.3 percent), followed by neoplasms (17.9 percent). Pregnancy/childbirth had the lowest readmission rate (3.6 percent).
