Coverage improves health.

Uninsured adults 55-64 years old, particularly those with cardiovascular disease or diabetes, saw their health improve significantly once they became eligible for Medicare, a study from Harvard Medical School, Boston, reported. The study looked at more than 5,000 adults who were continuously insured and more than 2,200 who were uninsured persistently or intermittently in the decade before they became eligible for Medicare. The researchers found that, compared with previously insured adults, previously uninsured adults reported significantly improved health trends after age 65, both overall and for measures related to mobility, agility, and adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Depressive symptoms did not improve significantly in uninsured individuals with these other conditions once they became eligible for Medicare, but depressive symptoms did improve in previously uninsured adults without these other conditions once they became eligible for Medicare. By age 70, the differences in health status between the previously uninsured and those who had been insured continuously were reduced by about half. The study appeared in the Dec. 26 issue of JAMA.