Seniors from the nation's lowest-income neighborhoods are at higher risk for readmission to the hospital for pneumonia or heart disease, according to a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. In the most disadvantaged 15 percent of U.S. neighborhoods, Medicare readmission rates can be as high as 27 percent, compared to 21 percent for other neighborhoods. Lead author Amy Kind, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine noted the poorest seniors often lack support networks or access to prescriptions or healthier food options. "We know that elderly adults often rely on their support networks for those things," she told HealthDay, "and that need only increases after they're discharged from the hospital." Study abstract