Must We Ration Health Care for the Elderly?

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Callahan
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Costs ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Aging Society ◽  
Medical Technologies ◽  
Care For The Elderly ◽  
Ration Health Care ◽  
Elderly Health ◽  
Care Costs

For well over 20 years I have been arguing that someday we will have to ration health care for the elderly. I got started in the mid-1980s when I served on an Office of Technology Assessment panel to assess the likely impact on elderly health care costs of emergent, increasingly expensive medical technologies. They would, the panel concluded, raise some serious problems for the future of Medicare. The panel did not take up what might be done about those costs, but I decided to think about that question and wrote a book called, Setting Limits: Medical Goals in an Aging Society.

The Effect of a Redistribution System for Health Care for the Elderly on the Financial Performance of Health Insurance Societies in Japan

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 458-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Babazono ◽  
Janet Weiner ◽  
Toshihide Tsuda ◽  
Yoshio Mino ◽  
Alan L. Hillman
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Health Care Costs ◽  
Cost Sharing ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Financial Data ◽  
Care For The Elderly ◽  
Elderly Health ◽  
Care Costs

AbstractHealth care for the elderly in Japan is financed through a pool to which all insurers contribute. We analyzed insurers' financial data to evaluate this redistribution system. Cost sharing affected financial performance substantially. The current formula for cost-sharing redistributes elderly health care costs unequally and should be changed.

scholarly journals Synergism in Technology Assessment

1989 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-479
Author(s):  
Ted R. Tyson
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Costs ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
National Economy ◽  
Medical Technology ◽  
Health Care Industry ◽  
Patent Office ◽  
Care Industry ◽  
Care Costs ◽  
The U.S

In 1899, Charles H. Duell, Commissioner of the U.S. Office of Patents, urged President McKinley to abolish the Patent Office by saying, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Fortunately for the health care industry, there have been more significant “medical inventions” in the 89 years following Duell's utterance than in all of recorded history preceding it.There is now a crisis in medical technology, and it has not been caused by a lack of ideas from innovative clinicians, inventors, and scientists. Instead, it is a result of sincere, but often spasmodic, efforts to control health care costs, which in the minds of many observers threaten the national economy, if not the country's survival.

scholarly journals Caring for the elderly: a report on the status of care for the elderly in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 636-643
Author(s):  
G. Hafez ◽  
K. Bagchi ◽  
R. Mahaini
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Community Services ◽  
Care For The Elderly ◽  
Government Sector ◽  
The Status ◽  
Elderly Health

To update our understanding of the status of elderly health care within the context of the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office’s Strategy Paper on Elderly Care (1995), a short questionnaire was sent to all Member States of the Region, except Afghanistan and Somalia. The questionnaire sought information on the proportion of the elderly in the population, the status of health care and the level of economic, social, cultural and physical assistance available to the elderly. Of the 21 countries in the survey, 18 (86%) responded. The findings of the survey are discussed here under the headings of demography, national policies on elderly care, social benefits, health care, social and community services, economic burden and the role of the non-government sector

scholarly journals PIH10 SERVICE UTILIZATION AND HEALTH CARE COSTS OF THE ELDERLY POPULATION IN GERMANY

2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. A255
Author(s):  
S Heinrich ◽  
M Luppa ◽  
MC Angermeyer ◽  
SG Riedel-Heller ◽  
HH Koenig
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Service Utilization ◽  
Health Care Costs ◽  
Elderly Population ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Care Costs

scholarly journals Elderly health: professional training and performance in primary health care

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Nauside Pessoa Da Silva ◽  
Eliana Campelo Lago ◽  
Inez Sampaio Nery ◽  
Camila Aparecida Pinheiro Landim Almeida ◽  
Fabrício Ibiapina Tapety ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Family Health ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Training Process ◽  
Care For The Elderly ◽  
Health Strategy ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Health Strategy ◽  
Elderly Health

To identify the influences of the professional training process for action in the Family Health Strategy (FHS) related to the health of the elderly man. Exploratory descriptive research, carried out with 20 professionals, from a Brazilian Northeast municipality from October to December 2014. The data collection was performed through a questionnaire, following the statements were processed in the software IRaMuTeQ, analyzed by the Descending Hierarchical Classification. Three classes emerged: Influences of the professional training process on elderly health care; Health care for the elderly; Actions developed in the family health strategy in the implementation of the national policy of comprehensive health care for the elderly. The findings suggest improved knowledge, lack of resources and medical specialties, evidenced the complexity of the actions developed by health professionals.  

scholarly journals Health Literacy Levels and Affecting Factors of Patients Who Applied to A University Hospital Polyclinic

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-35
Author(s):  
Burkay Yakar ◽  
Mehtap Gömleksiz ◽  
Edibe Pirinççi
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Health Care Costs ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Affecting Factors ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Care Costs

Aim: It is known that increasing health literacy can increase people's quality of life, enable them to benefit from health services more effectively and contribute to reducing health care costs. Inadequate health literacy has been reported to lead to insufficient health information, high risk of ill health, low level of understanding of treatment methods and increase in health care costs. Today, increasing number of chronic diseases, increasing the elderly population and increasing the budget allocated to health services have also increased the importance of health literacy levels. In this context, it is aimed to investigate health literacy levels and factors affecting our country. Methods: Our cross-sectional study was conducted in voluntary patients who applied to the family medicine outpatient clinic of a university. In our study, sociodemographic questionnaire form and Turkish Health Literacy Scale were used for data collection. Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis and p Results: 225 volunteers were included in our study. 62,1% of them were women. The mean score of the health literacy scale was 25.5±10.2. 50.6% of the participants were inadequate, and 25.1% of them had problematic health literacy level. The level of health literacy was found to be significantly lower in women, who had low education level, who were married and had children and who had vision problems. Conclusion: The data obtained from our study showed that our health literacy levels are low. We need to develop policies that increase our levels

scholarly journals The relationship between physical activity and out-of-pocket health care costs of the elderly in Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 628-632
Author(s):  
Sören Dallmeyer ◽  
Pamela Wicker ◽  
Christoph Breuer
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Costs ◽  
Economic Burden ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Care Costs

Abstract Background Increasing health care costs represent an economic burden placed on individuals across many European countries. Against this backdrop, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between participation in physical activity and out-of-pocket health care costs in Europe. Methods Individual data from the cross-national Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (n = 94 267) including 16 European countries were utilized. Two-part models were estimated to investigate how different levels of participation frequency in physical activity are related to out-of-pocket costs (OOPC) for people aged 50 years and older. Results Only participation in physical activity more than once a week significantly decreases the probability of incurring any OOPC. However, all frequencies of physical activity significantly reduce the level of costs, with the highest savings being generated by participation once a week. The results reveal higher savings for men compared to women. Conclusion Physical activity can be a useful policy instrument to reduce the economic burden of out-of-pocket health care costs for an aging population in Europe. Public officials should primarily promote physical activity interventions targeting older people who are not active at all.

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