As the world has changed from the pandemic, so too has health care utilization. Comparing the months of January-June 2019 to January-June 2020 for the MedBen block of business, we find that per member:
- The biggest decreases in utilization are for surgical inpatient days (down 45.1%), skilled nursing facility days (-43.3%), surgical admissions (-38.8%), and 30-day readmissions (-27.5%).
- Emergency room visits fell 15.6%, while total office visits dropped 5.2% and urgent care visits decreased less than 1%.
- The biggest utilization increases we’ve seen are for substance abuse office visits (up 78.3%) and substance abuse inpatient days (+29.9%), and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) inpatient days (+44.8%).
- Overall pharmacy scripts decreased 4.8%; however, mail-order scripts increased by 13.2%.
If you would like additional information about how your plan is performing, contact your MedBen Regional Sales Manager or Account Management team and they’ll be glad to set up a plan review for you.