MA members used 42% fewer skilled nursing days in 2023

Medicare Advantage members used 42% fewer skilled nursing facility days than people in traditional Medicare in 2023.

CMS counted 834.4 days per 1,000 Medicare Advantage members. It counted 1,435.8 days per 1,000 people in traditional Medicare. Both are national figures for 2023.

The Medicare Advantage figure comes from CMS’s Medicare Advantage Geographic Variation file, posted Jul. 30, 2026. The traditional Medicare figure comes from CMS’s Medicare Geographic Variation file, posted May 15, 2026.

What skilled nursing care is

A skilled nursing facility gives daily nursing and therapy care that only trained staff can provide, according to Medicare.gov. Physical therapy and intravenous injections are examples. Medicare covers it on a short term basis.

Traditional Medicare covers a skilled nursing stay after a qualifying inpatient hospital stay, with some exceptions. Medicare.gov says Medicare Advantage plans can waive that rule.

What the gap shows

The gap is a count of days used. It does not show whether members got the care they needed.

The two groups also differ in health. These figures do not adjust for that.

How we got these numbers

We took the national 2023 row from each CMS file.

For Medicare Advantage, that is skilled nursing facility days per 1,000 members. For traditional Medicare, it is covered skilled nursing facility days per 1,000 people. The 42% gap is 1 minus 834.4 divided by 1,435.8.

Limits.

1. CMS builds the Medicare Advantage figure from the encounter data plans send it. How complete that data is varies by plan.
2. The traditional Medicare figure counts covered days only.
3. 2023 is the latest year in CMS’s Medicare Advantage file.
4. This story uses national figures only.

What it means for you

If you are in a Medicare Advantage plan and need skilled nursing care, ask the plan what it covers and what you will pay. Medicare.gov says Medicare Advantage plans can charge copayments for these stays.

This story is general information from public sources. It is not insurance or enrollment advice, and we don’t recommend any plan or insurer.