The Impact of the COVID-19 Epidemic on Older Adults in Rural and Urban Areas in Mexico.

Objectives: Mexico is among the countries in Latin America hit hardest by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A large proportion of older adults in Mexico have high prevalence of multimorbidity and live in poverty with limited access to health care services. These statistics are even higher among adults living in rural areas, which suggest that older adults in rural communities may be more susceptible to COVID-19.

Posthospital Nursing Home Utilization and Quality Indicators Among Medicare Beneficiaries in Puerto Rico: Comparison With the United States.

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to contribute to the literature regarding post-acute nursing home utilization and quality indicators among Medicare beneficiaries in Puerto Rico compared with the US mainland.

Design: Medicare data from 2015 to 2017 was used to identify new discharges to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) using the Minimum Data Set and the Medicare Provider Analysis and Review.

Setting And Participants: Post-acute care patients admitted to SNFs in Puerto Rico and the United States.

Assessment of Racial Disparities in Mortality Rates Among Older Adults Living in US Rural vs Urban Counties From 1968 to 2016.

Importance: Population-based mortality rates are important indicators of overall health status. Mortality rates may reflect underlying disparities in access to health care, quality of care, racial and geographical variations, and other socioeconomic factors associated with health. However, there is limited information on historical trends in mortality rates between older Black and White adults living in urban compared with rural communities.

Assessment of Rural-Urban Differences in Postacute Care Utilization and Outcomes Among Older US Adults.

Importance: Although people living in rural areas of the United States are disproportionately older and more likely to die of conditions that require postacute care than those living in urban areas, rural-urban differences in postacute care utilization and outcomes have been understudied.

Objective: To describe rural-urban differences in postacute care utilization and postdischarge outcomes.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective cohort study used data from Medicare beneficiaries 66 years and older admitted to 4738 US acute care hospitals for stroke, hip fracture, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, or pneumonia between January 1, 2011, and September 30, 2015.

Healthy Aging After Age 65: A Life-Span Health Production Function Approach.

This article examines the determinants of healthy aging using Grossman's framework of a health production function. Healthy aging, sometimes described as successful aging, is produced using a variety of inputs, determined in early life, young adulthood, midlife, and later life. A healthy aging production function is estimated using nationally representative data from the 2010 and 2012 Health and Retirement Study on 7,355 noninstitutionalized seniors.

A slow start: Use of preventive services among seniors following the Affordable Care Act's enhancement of Medicare benefits in the U.S.

Objective: Beginning January 1st, 2011 in the United States the Affordable Care Act enhanced Medicare coverage for preventive services by eliminating patient cost-sharing under Part B and by introducing an "Annual Wellness Visit," also free-of-charge. We evaluated the early effects of these reforms on utilization of preventive services.

Method: We analyzed nationally representative data on 15,044 Medicare seniors from the 2008-2010, and 2012 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, and examined self-reported cholesterol test, blood pressure check, flu vaccination, endoscopy, fecal occult blood test, prostate specific antigen test, breast examination, and mammography.