Monday, August 22, 2022 | The Latest Research, Commentary, And News From Health Affairs
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COVID-19 And Incarceration
In 2020, 13.8 percent of adults in US prisons were age fifty-five or older, an all-time high, even as the overall US prison population was at its lowest in decades.
At the same time, COVID-19 case rates in state prisons were three to sixteen times the general population’s rate in more than half of the US states.
These shifting demographics in US prisons and the emergence of the global pandemic led Ada Kwan and colleagues to explore the impact of COVID-19 on incarcerated older adults in California during the first twenty months of the pandemic.
The authors report that while older adults accounted for 17.3 percent of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation population during the pandemic, they represented 85.8 percent of the prisons’ COVID-19-related deaths.
Further, older age groups experienced increased odds of being quarantined, medically isolated, or having had a confirmed case of COVID-19 compared with incarcerated younger adults, which in many prisons meant placement in cells typically used for
solitary confinement.
Kwan and colleagues advocate for more equitable strategies in response to emergencies such as COVID-19, including consideration for release from prison for older adults.
Today in Health Affairs
Forefront, Bonnielin Swenor writes that public health data systems and infrastructure must be built to collect disability data and use this information to combat ableism and support equity and social justice.
Katie Keith and coauthors explain new guidance on the No Surprises Act that address questions related to the insurer transparency rule, among other topics.
In case you missed it, last week, we published a new podcast episode about the health care and climate change provisions in the newly signed Inflation Reduction Act.
If you like the work we publish on Forefront and our podcasts, you can show your support by becoming a Health Affairs Insider, and as an added bonus, you'll get a free gift for joining.
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