Reports Outline Health Insurance Study Findings from University of Southern California (The value of Medicare coverage on depressive symptoms among older immigrants): Health Insurance

2023 JUL 03 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- Research findings on health insurance are discussed in a new report. According to news reporting from Los Angeles, California, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “The immigrant population, the primary driver of U.S. population growth, is aging and many immigrants remain uninsured.”

The news editors obtained a quote from the research from University of Southern California: “Lack of health insurance limits access to care, aggravating the already high level of depression for older immigrants. However, there is scarce evidence on how health insurance, particularly Medicare, affects their mental health. Using the Health and Retirement Study, this study examines the effect of Medicare coverage on depressive symptoms of older immigrants in the U.S. Research Design and Exploiting the fact that many immigrants are not covered by Medicare after passing age 65, we use a difference-in-difference model with propensity score weighting to compare differences in depressive symptoms pre- and post-age-65. We further stratify the sample by socioeconomic status and by race/ethnicity. Medicare coverage was significantly associated with a reduction in the probability of reporting depressive symptoms for immigrants with low socioeconomic status, especially for those below median wealth levels.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “The beneficial effect of Medicare coverage was also statistically significant for non-White immigrants - Black, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander - even when holding socioeconomic status constant. Discussion and Implications: Our findings imply that immigration policies that expand healthcare protection to older immigrants can lead to further health benefits and reduce existing disparities for the aging population. Policy reforms such as providing limited Medicare access to immigrants who paid sufficient taxes but are still awaiting permanent residency status could increase coverage for the uninsured and improve participation of immigrants in the payroll system.”

For more information on this research see: The value of Medicare coverage on depressive symptoms among older immigrants. The Gerontologist, 2023. The publisher for The Gerontologist is Oxford University Press (OUP).

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnad070.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Hankyung Jun, Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States. Additional authors for this research include Soeren Mattke, Alice Chen, Emma Aguila.

ORCID is an identifier for authors and includes bibliographic information. The following is ORCID information for the authors of this research: Hankyung Jun (http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9433-8541), Emma Aguila (http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7953-1469).

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