One in 7 Medicaid beneficiaries received care at a nursing home after they were newly diagnosed with [cancer](https://www.mcknights.com/news/nursing-homes-can-do-more-to-meet-urgent-unmet-need-of-cancer-patients/), a new study finds.
People who went to nursing homes were more likely to be white or Black, and dual-eligible for Medicaid and Medicare, compared to those who did not use nursing homes and primarily had short nursing home stays. The [study](https://agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jgs.19391?saml_referrer) was published Tuesday in the _Journal of the American Geriatrics Society._
Investigators examined data from 338,767 Medicaid beneficiaries spanning 45 states who were newly diagnosed with cancer and were diagnosed with cancer in 2017 or 2018. Of participants, 79.9% didn’t go to a nursing home in the study period. A total of 10.9% of participants went to nursing homes for the first time. Of them, the average age was nearly 69 years old and 68.6% were dual-eligible for Medicaid and Medicare. Of them, 51.2% were white and 20.9% were Black. They went to the nursing home within 7.7 months, on average, of their cancer diagnosis; of them, 12.1% had long stays. The most prevalent cancer types associated with short and long stays were lung, breast and hematological.
The high number of people who are dual-eligible and going to nursing homes after a cancer diagnosis is an important policy issue, the authors wrote. This is because chemotherapy is currently not covered under a Medicare Part A skilled nursing facility stay. As a result, there is a financial burden for the person dealing with the coverage gap and the nursing facility, which does not have to cover the costs of chemotherapy.
After a hospitalization, people who are newly diagnosed with cancer may stay in a nursing home for rehabilitation, social support, assistance due to functional declines, or end of life care, the authors noted.
The study found that 3.8% stayed in a nursing home prior to their cancer diagnosis but not afterward, and 5.4% stayed in a nursing home before and after their cancer diagnosis.