Finding
Older Black adults are less likely than their white peers to have private insurance and more likely to rely on Medicaid or Medicare as their only health insurance.
Paola Scommegna and Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau, discuss assorted findings that unequal health care access and quality contribute to u.s. racial health disparities among older adults. Findings based on research from Chanee D. Fabius, Jennifer L. Wolff, and Judith D. Kasper of the Hopkins’ Economics of Alzheimer’s Disease and Services (HEADS) Center, along with that of Amitabh Chandra, Pragya Kakani, Adam Sacarny, Marcella Alsan, Marianne Wanamaker, Owen Garrick, and Grant Graziani.
“Older Black adults are less likely than their white peers to have private insurance and more likely to rely on Medicaid or Medicare as their only health insurance. Black adults under age 65 who do not qualify for Medicare are also less likely than their white peers to have employer-provided health insurance, creating barriers to care. Black adults who are beneficiaries of Medicare are also more likely than their white peers to receive care in emergency rooms and nursing homes and report fewer doctor’s office visits”
This article is an excerpt from issue 41 of Today’s Research on Aging.
