Center for Policy Research
Policy Brief
Medicaid-Insured Older Adults on SNAP May Have Stronger Medication Adherence
Colleen Heflin, Chinedum O. Ojinnaka, Irma Arteaga, Leslie Hodges, and Gabriella Alphonso
C.P.R. Policy Brief No. 2
April 2023
Medication adherence is critical to decreasing hospitalization, poor health outcomes, and healthcare costs for older adults with hypertension. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could protect against medication non-adherence. This brief summarizes the findings from their recent study, which linked Missouri Medicaid administrative claims data to SNAP data from 2006 to 2014. The findings suggest that longer and consistent receipt of SNAP benefits was associated with higher levels of antihypertensive medication adherence among Medicaid-insured individuals aged 60 years and older.
CPR Policy Briefs present concise summaries of findings from recent research conducted by CPR affiliates in the areas of crime and the law, economic wellbeing and poverty, education, energy and the environment, families, health, public finance, social welfare, urban and regional economics, and other policy-relevant domains.