States around the Gulf of Mexico and in the Rust Belt face the highest post-acute care costs in the nation, according to Medicare data released Monday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

CMS has released new county- and state-level data on Medicare spending and utilization, including post-acute care costs. The agency also released data on the number of beneficiaries with certain chronic conditions, and how this relates to hospital readmissions. The information is available in PDF format, as well as through an online dashboard.

For the nation as a whole, the per capita cost for post-acute care reached $1,756 for Medicare beneficiaries in 2011. Per capita costs exceeded $2,019 in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. Illinois and Massachusetts were the only other states in this range. Post-acute care was most expensive in Louisiana, at $3,108 per capita.

Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana all had post-acute costs in the $1,845-$2,019 per capita range.

Click here to access the data dashboard.

The chronic conditions report shows how prevalent 15 common conditions were among Medicare beneficiaries in each U.S. state and county for the years 2007-2011. The conditions include diabetes, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and stroke. The report also shows the percentage of hospital readmissions attributable to beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions. In Louisiana, a quarter of hospital readmissions in 2011 were for Medicare patients with six or more chronic conditions.

Click here to access the chronic conditions data.

The data release coincided with the fourth annual Health Datapalooza event in Washington, D.C. Government, nonprofit and private sector organizations organize the event, to shine a light on how data sharing can improve healthcare systems. The event concludes today.