Findings from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Managed Care Reported (Impact of Health Insurance Patterns On Chronic Health Conditions Among Older Patients): Managed Care

2023 NOV 17 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- Current study results on Managed Care have been published. According to news reporting from Portland, Oregon, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Patients have varying levels of chronic conditions and health insurance patterns as they become Medicare age-eligible. Understanding these dynamics will inform policies and reforms that direct capacity and resources for primary care clinics to care for these aging patients.”

Financial support for this research came from National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health award.

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), “This study 1) determined changes in chronic condition rates following Medicare age eligibility among patients with different insurance patterns and 2) estimated the number of chronically ill patients who remain inadequately insured post-Medicare eligibility among patients receiving care in community health centers. We used retrospective electronic health record data from 45,527 patients aged 62 to 68 from 990 community health centers in 25 states in 2014 to 2019. Insurance patterns (continuously insured, continuously uninsured, uninsured/discontinuously insured who gained insurance after age 65, lost insurance after age 65, discontinuously insured) and diagnosis of chronic conditions were defined at each visit pre-and post-Medicare eligibility. Difference-in-differences Poisson GEE models estimated changes of chronic condition rates by insurance groups pre-to post-Medicare age eligibility. Post-Medicare eligibility, 72% patients were continuously insured, 14% gained insurance; and 14% were uninsured or discontinuously insured. The prevalence of multimorbidity (>= 2 chronic conditions) was 77%. Those who gained insurance had a significantly larger increase in the rate of documented chronic conditions from pre-to post-Medicare (DID: 1.06, 95%CI:1.05-1.07) compared with the continuously insured group. Post-Medicare age eligibility, a significant proportion of patients were diagnosed with new conditions leading to high burden of disease.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “One in 4 older adults continue to have inadequate health care coverage in their older age.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Impact of Health Insurance Patterns On Chronic Health Conditions Among Older Patients. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 2023;36(5):839-850. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine can be contacted at: Amer Board Family Medicine, 2228 Young Dr, Lexington, KY 40505, USA.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Nathalie Huguet, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), Dept. of Family Medicine, Portland, OR, United States. Additional authors for this research include Tahlia Hodes, Shuling Liu, Miguel Marino, Katherine D. Peak, Ana R. Quinones, Teresa D. Schmidt and Robert W. Voss.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.3122/jabfm.2023.230106R1. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)