Health of Medicare Advantage plan enrollees at 1 year after Hurricane Katrina.

© Managed Care & Healthcare Communications, LLC H urricane Katrina has had profound and ongoing effects on the health of inhabitants of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, and surrounding areas. Numerous reports on the immediate health effects of Hurricane Katrina have focused on surveillance of the following: mortality, injury, and illness1,2; mental health problems3; health services utilization4,5; disruption to the healthcare delivery system4,6,7; implications for patient care during disasters8; and suggestions for health policy change.9 Although the disaster literature contains many studies on the immediate health effects of natural disasters, few (including the Hurricane Katrina literature) have tracked health outcomes during the long term or have been able to compare health status before an event versus after an event.10,11 Older adults with a heavy burden of chronic conditions require effective care delivery systems12; however, few studies to date have focused on the health effects following a major disruption to care delivery such as occurred with Hurricane Katrina. The first objective of this study was to document mortality associated with Hurricane Katrina in a defined population of older adults. The second objective was to explore the relationship between prehurricane health risk status and the effects of the hurricane on morbidity and health service use in a population of continuously enrolled older persons from a New Orleans–based Medicare Advantage plan.