In Medicare risk-adjusted funding, severity of illness is considered along with what?

• A. Demographics only
• B. Geography
• C. Some additional factors
• D. Age only

Answer: (C)

Risk adjustment combines health status with other risk factors to predict costs for funding. Severity of illness is important because sicker individuals typically incur higher costs, but it isn’t used alone. The funding model also considers a range of other inputs such as demographics (age and sex), geographic differences (where the person lives), and other status indicators or diagnosed conditions. That blend of inputs is what real Medicare risk-adjusted funding uses, so severity is evaluated along with these additional factors. The other choices are too narrow because they imply only one type of factor is used, whereas the model relies on multiple factors together.