scholarly journals Semi-supercentenarians in the United States

Author(s):  
Bert Kestenbaum

AbstractThis chapter discusses in detail the procedure followed to identify a 1-in-10 sample of persons born between 1870 and 1899 who resided in the United States at the time of their death at ages 105–109 for men and 108 or 109 for women. We tabulate the characteristics of these “semi-supercentenarians” and offer some observations about the level of their mortality. The procedure for identifying semi-supercentenarians consists of (1) casting a net to find candidates and then (2) determining for which candidates can both date of birth and date of death be validated. The net used to find candidates in the United States is different from the nets typically used in other counties: in the United States we use the file of enrollments in the federal government’s Medicare health insurance program. Some of the information needed for the verification step comes from another administrative file – the Social Security Administration’s file of applications for a new or replacement social security card. Verification of the date of death is accomplished by querying the National Death Index. Dates of birth are verified by using online resources to access the records of several censuses conducted many decades earlier.

Getting By ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 329-428
Author(s):  
Helen Hershkoff ◽  
Stephen Loffredo

This chapter addresses the issue of health care for low-income people. The United States, virtually alone among developed nations, does not offer universal access to health care, leaving many millions of individuals without health insurance or other means of obtaining necessary medical services. In 2010, Congress enacted the landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)—popularly known as “Obamacare”—marking an important but incomplete response to the nation’s health care crisis. This chapter examines the ACA in detail, including its impact on Medicaid and Medicare, the major government health programs in the United States, its creation of Health Insurance Exchanges and tax credits to help low-income households obtain private health coverage, and the reform of private health insurance markets through a patient’s bill of rights, which, among other measures, prohibits insurance companies from refusing coverage for preexisting medical conditions. Perhaps the most critical aspect of the ACA was its expansion of Medicaid to cover virtually all low-income citizens (and certain immigrants) who do not qualify for other health coverage. Although several states opted out of the ACA’s Medicaid expansion, the Medicaid program nevertheless remains the largest single provider of health coverage in the United States. This chapter also provides a detailed description of Medicaid, its eligibility criteria and scope of coverage; the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a government-funded health insurance program for children in households with too much income to qualify for Medicaid; and Medicare, the federal health insurance program for aged, blind, and disabled individuals.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Bizard ◽  
Thierry Boudemaghe ◽  
Laurent Delaunay ◽  
Lucas Léger ◽  
Karem Slim

Abstract Background Study of the medico economic impact of enhanced rehabilitation after surgery (ERAS), by comparing the cost of patient care with or without ERAS, both from the point of view of the hospitals and the Social Security Health Insurance Program. Methods Retrospective longitudinal study on matched data from March 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019. The data are extracted from the French prospective payment system. We studied 12 of the most commonly performed in ERAS business segments. The primary outcome was the reduction of the average length of hospital stay and its implications on production costs and excess capacity. We also studied the impact on hospital incomes and Social Security Insurance Program expenses. The potential gain in hospital days was computed by comparing the length of stay of ERAS and non-ERAS cases. The cost reduction was estimated using the mean number of avoidable days of hospitalization, and the mean cost of the stays obtained from the national cost study. Finally, we studied an approximation of the additional expense for the Social Security Health Insurance Program on costs standardized by applying public sector rates. Results The average length of stay reduction attributed to ERAS is 1.45 (CI 95% 1.42 to 1.48) day per stay, translating to a cost reduction for the hospitals of € 1060 (CI 95% 995 to 1125) per patient and a total of €65 million (CI 95% 61 to 69). At the same time, the additional expenses for the Social Security Insurance Program can conservatively be approximated to € 1.6 million, breaking into a € 2.2 million increase partially compensated by cost savings of € 0.6 million over subsequent stays for complications. Overall, for each percent of additional ERAS activity over the scope of the study, the marginal cost reduction for the hospitals can be estimated to € 1.8 million (CI 95% 1.7 million to 2.0 million). Conclusions Associated with previously known clinical benefits for the patients, these convincing results in terms of economic gain strongly support expanding the adoption of ERAS.


2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 569
Author(s):  
Wali I. Mondal

<p>Until the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act commonly known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law in March 2010, United States was the only industrialized rich country in the world without a universal healthcare insurance coverage. While pioneering works by Burns (1956, 1966) focused on the Social Security Act of 1935 in addressing the health insurance needs of U.S. retired population through Medicare, and later Medicaid was created by the Social Security Amendments of 1965, U.S. health insurance has remained a private, for-profit venture. The passage of ACA was one of the most contentious legislations of modern times. Soon after it was signed into law, various groups of private citizens and a number of States challenged some provisions of the ACA; however, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld its key provisions. A segment of the Congress remains opposed to the ACA on ideological ground and continues to challenge it with a variety of legal maneuvers. Notwithstanding the political or ideological arguments for or against the ACA, the objective of this paper is to analyze the competitiveness of the health insurance marketplace which opened on October 1, 2013. In doing so, the paper will address the structure of the health insurance exchange and suggest ways and means to make it more competitive.</p>


2009 ◽  
Vol 2;12 (2;3) ◽  
pp. 289-304
Author(s):  
Laxmaiah Manchikanti

Rapidly rising health care costs over the decades have prompted the application of business practices to medicine with goals of improving the efficiency, restraining expenses, and increasing quality. Average health insurance premiums and individual contributions for family coverage have increased approximately 120% from 1999 to 2008. Health care spending in the United States is stated to exceed 4 times the national defense, despite the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. health care system has been blamed for inefficiencies, excessive administrative expenses, inflated prices, inappropriate waste, and fraud and abuse. While many people lack health insurance, others who do have health insurance allegedly receive care ranging from superb to inexcusable. In criticism of health care in the United States and the focus on savings, methodologists, policy makers, and the public in general seem to ignore the major disadvantages of other global health care systems and the previous experiences of the United States to reform health care. Health care reform is back with the Obama administration with great expectations. It is also believed that for the first time since 1993, momentum is building for policies that would move the United States towards universal health insurance. President Obama has made health care a central part of his domestic agenda, with spending and investments in Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and proposed 2010 budget. It is the consensus now that since we have a fiscal emergency, Washington is willing to deal with the health care crisis. Many of the groups long opposed to reform, appear to be coming together to accept a major health care reform. Reducing costs is always at the center of any health care debate in the United States. These have been focused on waste, fraud, and abuse; administrative costs; improving the quality with health technology information dissemination; and excessive regulations on the health care industry in the United States. Down payment on health care reform, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and CHIP include many provisions to reach towards universal health care. Key words: Health care reform, universal health care, national health expenditures, gross domestic product, sustained growth rate formula, physician payments, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Children’s Health Insurance Program, health information technology


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