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Study finds substantial improvement in a number of health conditions

THURSDAY, Dec. 27 (HealthDay News) -- People who are intermittently or totally uninsured in the decade prior to reaching Medicare eligibility experience substantial improvements in health once such coverage kicks in, a new study reveals.

In fact, previously uninsured people appeared to experience greater relative health gains during their post-65 Medicare years than did previously insured patients, particularly those diagnosed with heart disease and diabetes.

The findings suggest that Medicare dramatically reverses a trend toward rapid health deterioration among the previously uninsured "near-elderly," the study authors said.

"Our study shows that near-elderly adults -- those 55 to 64 -- who are uninsured have much greater declines in health before age 65," said co-author Dr. John Z. Ayanian, a professor of health care policy and medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, both in Boston. "But once they become eligible for Medicare at 65, they do relatively better than people who were continuously insured before, in terms of improving their health."

The findings were reported in the Dec. 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

To assess changes in health status among people before and after they entered into Medicare coverage, the authors analyzed data collected by the Health and Retirement Study, a national survey started in 1992.

Slightly more than 7,200 men and women participated. All were between the ages of 51 and 61 at the study's start, ensuring that the study cohort would include participants who would reach the age of Medicare eligibility (65) at some point through 2004.

Starting at age 55, the participants completed questionnaires on a biannual basis regarding their health insurance status, indicating whether they had lacked coverage at any point
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