Relationship between state medicaid policies, nursing home racial composition, and the risk of hospitalization for black and white residents.

OBJECTIVE

To examine racial differences in the risk of hospitalization for nursing home (NH) residents.

DATA SOURCES

National NH Minimum Data Set, Medicare claims, and Online Survey Certification and Reporting data from 2000 were merged with independently collected Medicaid policy data.

STUDY DESIGN

One hundred and fifty day follow-up of 516,082 long-stay residents.

PRINCIPLE FINDINGS

18.5 percent of white and 24.1 percent of black residents were hospitalized. Residents in NHs with high concentrations of blacks had 20 percent higher odds (95 percent confidence interval [CI]=1.15-1.25) of hospitalization than residents in NHs with no blacks. Ten-dollar increments in Medicaid rates reduced the odds of hospitalization by 4 percent (95 percent CI=0.93-1.00) for white residents and 22 percent (95 percent CI=0.69-0.87) for black residents.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings illustrate the effect of contextual forces on racial disparities in NH care.