BATON ROUGE (AP) — Five Louisiana parishes, led by St. Tammany, are among the 20 counties with the highest Medicare per capita spending in the country. That's according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
St. Tammany ranked No. 10 at $11,146 in 2013, the latest data available.
The figures were adjusted to account for differences in Medicare prices and beneficiaries' health risk.
The 20 highest-spending counties and parishes have significantly more post-acute care providers — skilled nursing facilities and home health care services — per capita and significantly fewer physicians than the 20 lowest-spending counties.
Tangipahoa was No. 12 at $11,066; followed by Rapides, No. 14 at $10,938; Bossier, No. 16 at $10,918; and Ouachita, No. 19, at $10.891.
The Advocate reports the U.S. average was $9,343.
