Recent Research from Umea University Highlight Findings in Health Insurance (Self-rated health, generalized trust, and the Affordable Care Act: A US…

Recent Research from Umea University Highlight Findings in Health Insurance (Self-rated health, generalized trust, and the Affordable Care Act: A US panel study, 2006-2014)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Managed Care Weekly Digest -- Data detailed on Health Insurance have been presented. According to news reporting out of Umea, Sweden, by NewsRx editors, research stated, "Previous research shows that generalized trust, the belief that most people can be trusted, is conducive to people's health. However, only recently have longitudinal studies suggested an additional reciprocal pathway from health back to trust."

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Umea University, "Drawing on a diverse body of literature that shows how egalitarian social policy contributes to the promotion of generalized trust, we hypothesize that this other 'reverse' pathway could be sensitive to health insurance context. Drawing on nationally representative US panel data from the General Social Survey, we examine whether the Affordable Care Act of 2010 could have had influence on the deteriorating impact of worsening self-rated health (SRH) on generalized trust. Firstly, using two-wave panel data (2008-2010, N = 1403) and employing random effects regression models, we show that a lack of health insurance coverage negatively determines generalized trust in the United States. However, this association is attenuated when additionally controlling for (perceived) income inequality. Secondly, utilizing data from two separate three-wave panel studies from the US General Social Survey (2006-10; N = 1652; 2010-2014; N = 1187), we employ fixed-effects linear regression analyses to control for unobserved heterogeneity from time-invariant factors. We demonstrate that worsening SRH was a stronger predictor for a decrease in generalized trust prior (2006-2010) to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Further, the negative effect of fair/poor SRH seen in the 2006-2010 data becomes attenuated in the 2010-2014 panel data. We thus find evidence for a substantial weakening of the previously established negative impact of decreasing SRH on generalized trust, coinciding with the most significant US healthcare reforms in decades."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "Social policy and healthcare policy implications are discussed."

For more information on this research see: Self-rated health, generalized trust, and the Affordable Care Act: A US panel study, 2006-2014. Social Science & Medicine, 2017;190():48-56. Social Science & Medicine can be contacted at: Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, England. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Social Science & Medicine - www.journals.elsevier.com/social-science-and-medicine/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting J. Mewes, Umea University, Dept. of Sociol, Umea, Sweden (see also Health Insurance).

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.08.012. 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.

Keywords for this news article include: Umea, Sweden, Europe, Health Insurance, Umea University.

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