Abstract 15454: Socioeconomic Disparities and Healthcare Utilization Differ Significantly Among Cardiovascular Diseases in Medicare Patients: Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), 2020

Introduction: Socioeconomic factors impact access to healthcare and patient care, particularly for patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Understanding the differences in healthcare utilization and financial burden among patients with CVD is essential for developing targeted interventions and policies to improve patient care and reduce the financial burden of CVD.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used the 2020 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) to analyze disparities in socioeconomic factors among Medicare beneficiaries with various CVD. A survey-weighted logistic model was used to compare the proportion of socioeconomic factors between patients with and without hypertension (HTN), atherosclerosis (ASVD), angina, myocardial infarction (MI), heart failure (HF), and valvular disease or arrhythmias.

Results: A significantly higher proportion of Medicare patients with HTN, ASVD, angina, HF and valvular disease/arrythmias attended >10 office visits per year (p<0.001) than those without (Figure 1A). Medicare patients with CVD reported greater difficulty paying medical bills (p<0.001), and those with MI and HF were significantly more likely to delay care due to cost (p<0.05). However, <4% of Medicare patients reported skipping or having difficulty affording blood pressure medications due to cost (Figure 1B, 1C).

Conclusions: Medicare beneficiaries with CVD have significantly more office visits and difficulty paying medical bills, which imposes a substantial financial burden. However, reducing blood pressure medication costs is unlikely to substantially reduce the financial burden of CVD for Medicare patients with hypertension.