Today, approximately one in four adult Americans has multiple chronic conditions. Of those adults aged 65 and older, 68.4 percent have multiple chronic conditions that require daily management.
In 2010, among the 14 percent of Medicare beneficiaries with six or more chronic conditions, more than 60 percent were hospitalized at least once, accounting for 55 percent of total Medicare spending on hospitalizations. Further, beneficiaries with six or more chronic conditions also had hospital readmission rates that were 30 percent higher than the national average.
This is the most significant statistic for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS): In 2014, the estimated total annual cost of readmissions for Medicare was $26 billion, with $17 billion of that considered avoidable costs.
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