Reports from University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Add New Data to Findings in Medicare and Medicaid (Federally-Assisted Healthcare Coverage…

Reports from University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Add New Data to Findings in Medicare and Medicaid (Federally-Assisted Healthcare Coverage among Male State Prisoners with Chronic Health Problems)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Managed Care Weekly Digest -- Investigators publish new report on Medicare and Medicaid. According to news originating from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, "Prisoners have higher rates of chronic diseases such as substance dependence, mental health conditions and infectious disease, as compared to the general population. We projected the number of male state prisoners with a chronic health condition who at release would be eligible or ineligible for healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)."

Financial supporters for this research include Natioanal Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (see also Medicare and Medicaid).

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, "We used ACA income guidelines in conjunction with reported pre-arrest social security benefits and income from a nationally representative sample of prisoners to estimate the number eligible for healthcare coverage at release. There were 643,290 US male prisoners aged 18-64 with a chronic health condition. At release, 73% in Medicaid-expansion states would qualify for Medicaid or tax credits. In non-expansion states, 54% would qualify for tax credits, but 22% (n=69,827) had incomes of less than or equal to 100% the federal poverty limit and thus would be ineligible for ACA-mediated healthcare coverage. These prisoners comprise 11% of all male prisoners with a chronic condition. The ACA was projected to provide coverage to most male state prisoners with a chronic health condition; however, roughly 70,000 fall in the 'coverage gap' and may require non-routine care at emergency departments."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "Mechanisms are needed to secure coverage for this at risk group and address barriers to routine utilization of health services."

For more information on this research see: Federally-Assisted Healthcare Coverage among Male State Prisoners with Chronic Health Problems. Plos One, 2016;11(8):e0160085. (Public Library of Science - www.plos.org; Plos One - www.plosone.org)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from D.L. Rosen, Dept. of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Additional authors for this research include C.A. Grodensky and T.K Holley.

Keywords for this news article include: Chapel Hill, United States, Health Policy, North Carolina, Medicare and Medicaid, North and Central America.

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