This increase is largely due to the aging of the U.S. population. However, while risk increases with age, arthritis is not limited to the elderly. More than one-half of the people who reported having arthritis were under age 65. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting 12.1 percent of U.S. adults or 20.7 million people. Also known as degenerative joint disease, osteoarthritis was the second most common diagnosis, after chronic heart disease, leading to Social Security disability payments due to long-term absence from work.
Arthritis is a leading cause of disability.
For example, OIG found that the rate of medically unnecessary therapies was higher than 25 percent at five of the six facilities and was more than 80 percent at one facility. OIG attributes the large volume of unnecessary therapy to three major factors. First, skilled services are frequently provided when non-skilled services would be more appropriate. Second, therapists sometimes ignore the beneficiary's prior level of function and set unrealistic goals. Third, the frequency of therapy is sometimes excessive.