Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research

Extract
As the health research community celebrates the 50^th anniversary of the founding of the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the health research community is at a crossroads in meeting the needs of a diverse aging population. Some of these concerns include access to health care, affordable housing, social isolation, and the management of chronic illnesses. With the COVID-19 pandemic as a recent exemplar of disproportionate effects in terms of morbidity and mortality for minoritized communities, gerontological scholars must continue to acknowledge and support the variable pathways of aging in communities throughout the United States. As research progresses, interventions should be tailored to be appropriate and relevant to a heterogeneous aging population. Continuation of actionable initiatives to promote access, trust-building, and inclusion has the promise of extending the reach of the gift of longevity to more older Americans in decades to come…

Abstract
From 2018-2020, 19 states enacted Medicaid work requirements as a strategy for reducing program enrollment and overall cost. While these requirements were later rescinded, strategies to reduce Medicaid costs are likely to reemerge as states attempt to recover economically from the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we evaluated the impact of Medicaid work requirements on adults aged > 50, a group that likely faces significant age-related chronic disease burden. Using 2016 Health and Retirement Study data, we evaluated the chronic disease burden of adult Medicaid beneficiaries aged 51-64 years (n = 1460) who would be at risk of losing their Medicaid coverage due to work…