More black people than white people with Medicare tend to be readmitted to the hospital within a month after major surgery and the racial disparity is even greater within the Medicare Advantage managed care program, according to a research study led by University of Rochester professors published in Health Affairs.

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The researchers compared racial disparities in 30-day readmissions between traditional Medicare fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries who underwent one of six major surgeries in New York State in 2013. After controlling for patient, hospital, and geographic characteristics, the study shows in traditional Medicare, black patients are 33 percent more likely than white patients to be readmitted, whereas in the Medicare Advantage managed care program, black patients are 64 percent more likely than white patients to be readmitted.