Letter Links Stricter Medicaid Eligibility to Delayed Care
States and counties with restrictive Medicaid eligibility criteria tend to have the highest rates of individuals who delay necessary medical care because of cost, according to a letter to the editor published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. In the letter, Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard School of Public Health researchers noted that counties with the highest prevalence of delayed care are more likely to have higher Hispanic populations and a high prevalence of chronic diseases that are commonly associated with low-income communities.
- "Tight Medicaid Eligibility Leads To More Adults Delaying Care" (Rao, "Capsules," Kaiser Health News, 3/27).