Title | Can Food Stamps help to reduce Medicare spending on diabetes? |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2011 |
Authors | Nicholas, LHersch |
Journal | Econ Hum Biol |
Volume | 9 |
Issue | 1 |
Pagination | 1-13 |
Date Published | 2011 Jan |
ISSN Number | 1873-6130 |
Call Number | newpubs2010112_Nicholas.pdf |
Keywords | Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Biomarkers, Confidence Intervals, Cross-Sectional Studies, Diabetes Mellitus, Female, Glycated Hemoglobin, Health Care Costs, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Medicare, Middle Aged, Odds Ratio, Outpatients, Poverty, Prevalence, Public Assistance, Regression Analysis, Social Welfare, Treatment Outcome, United States |
Abstract | Diabetes is rapidly escalating amongst low-income, older adults at great cost to the Medicare program. We use longitudinal survey data from the Health and Retirement Study linked to administrative Medicare records and biomarker data to assess the relationship between Food Stamp receipt and diabetes health outcomes. We find no significant difference in Medicare spending, outpatient utilization, diabetes hospitalizations and blood sugar (HbA1c) levels between recipients and income-eligible non-recipients after controlling for a detailed set of covariates including individual fixed effects and measures of diabetes treatment compliance. As one-third of elderly Food Stamp recipients are currently diabetic, greater coordination between the Food Stamp, Medicare, and Medicaid programs may improve health outcomes for this group. |
DOI | 10.1016/j.ehb.2010.10.003 |
User Guide Notes | |
Endnote Keywords | Diabetes/Food Stamps/biomarker data/elderly/Medicare spending/HbA1c/Public Policy |
Endnote ID | 24080 |
Alternate Journal | Econ Hum Biol |
Citation Key | 7510 |
PubMed ID | 21112260 |
PubMed Central ID | PMC3032985 |
Grant List | T32 AG000221 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States T32 AG000221-17 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States P30 AG012846-17S1 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States P30 AG012846 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States R24 HD041028 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States |