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Health and Long-Term Care Use Trajectories of Older Disabled Women

^a Scripps Gerontology Center, Miami University, Oxford, OH

Correspondence: Shahla A. Mehdizadeh, PhD, Scripps Gerontology Center, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056. E-mail: mehdizk{at}muohio.edu.

Decision Editor: Laurence G. Branch, PhD

Purpose: I examined health and long-term care use trajectories of a sample of chronically disabled older women eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid by exploring their use data in order to understand and anticipate the increasing demand on the health and long-term care delivery systems as aging female baby boomers reach age 65 and older. Design and Methods: A sample of older disabled women in Ohio who completed preadmission review was divided into three groups on the basis of the setting in which they received their initial long-term care services. Results: I was able to establish a long-term care career for the sample members beginning with receiving long-term care in the community, followed by a transition stage in which care was received in the community and in a nursing home, and finally by a stage at which they entered and remained in a nursing home. As the sample members proceeded along their long-term care career and their health and disability status worsened, I found a clear shift in the kind of care needed from hospital and home care to nursing home care. There was also a shift in the major payer, from Medicare to Medicaid. Implications: As the baby boomers age, a much larger number of women will be disabled and need health and long-term care services. For a considerable number of these women, Medicaid gradually becomes the major payer for care, an issue that needs close observation.

Key Words: Dual-eligible women • Health and long-term care expenditures • Long-term care career

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