Meals On Wheels Clients: Measurable Differences In The Likelihood Of Aging In Place Or Being Hospitalized.

Little is known about how participation in home-delivered meal programs (known as Meals on Wheels), financed in part through the Older Americans Act, relates to the use of health services and the ability to age in place for elder Medicare beneficiaries. Using 2013-20 data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, we evaluated the relationship between Meals on Wheels use and two outcomes-likelihood of continued community residence and risk for hospitalization-in the following year for Medicare beneficiaries ages sixty-five and older, overall and by gender, race, Medicaid enrollment, and frailty. Overall, Meals on Wheels users and nonusers were equally likely to still reside in the community one year later; however, continued community residence was more likely among users than nonusers who were Black, were enrolled in Medicaid, or were frail. Program use was marginally associated with increased likelihood of hospitalization in the following year overall, but more strongly so among frail users. Our findings are consistent with the heterogeneity of Medicare-age Meals on Wheels users nationwide and suggest that program benefits differ among specific populations.

Transitioning to Medicare before age sixty-five.

Disabled workers who start receiving Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) must wait twenty-four months to qualify for Medicare. Legislation introduced in Congress would eliminate this waiting period, to guarantee that people with disabilities severe enough to qualify for SSDI will not be uninsured. We provide a longitudinal view of Medicare enrollment before age sixty-five by following a national sample of people ages 55-64. One person in six was covered by Medicare before turning sixty-five. A quarter of new enrollees were uninsured during the waiting period. There were great disparities in reliance on Medicare and coverage in the waiting period.