Hospital Use for Myocardial Infarction and Stroke Among Medicare Beneficiaries from March to December 2020

Hospitalizations for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and stroke declined nationwide among adults during the early COVID-19 period, suggesting some patients did not receive timely care for these emergencies. Declines in AMI and stroke hospitalizations might be particularly large for Medicare patients who, because they are older or physically disabled and have more comorbidities, are both more likely to have cardiovascular events and have concerns about contracting COVID-19 during a hospitalization. However, to our knowledge, no studies have examined this population specifically to date. We compared weekly rates of hospital use for AMI and stroke in 2020 with weekly rates in 2018 and 2019 among Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries nationally.