Recent changes in service use patterns of disabled Medicare beneficiaries.

An analysis was made of the pre- and post-patterns of Medicare Part A service use using the samples of the 1982 and 1984 National Long-Term Care Surveys linked to the Medicare Part A bill files and mortality reports. The analysis was conducted both for the total elderly Medicare beneficiary population and for the community resident disabled population--a group felt to be particularly vulnerable to any adverse effect of the prospective payment system's induced change in service use. The expected changes in Medicare service patterns were identified, but there was no evidence of adverse changes in outcome--even for select vulnerable populations.