Comparison of Low-Value Services Among Medicare Advantage and Traditional Medicare Beneficiaries

This cross-sectional study of 2,470,199 Medicare beneficiaries explored whether rates of low-value care differ between traditional Medicare (TM) and Medicare Advantage (MA), and what elements of insurance design were associated with the differences. We found that those enrolled in MA had lower rates of low-value care than those enrolled in TM; elements of insurance design present in the MA program and absent in TM were associated with reduction in low-value care.