Elderly Health Care Cost Is Becoming Increasingly More Costly

It is expected that the over sixty-five year's old population in the US is only going to grow further in the next twenty-five years

. What makes matters even more worrisome is the fact that elderly health care cost during this period is also going to increase. So much so, that it is expected that during this time period elderly health care costs will more than double, thanks in great part to the three and a half percent growth (it is estimated) that is going to take place in the numbers of over sixty-five year olds in the US.

Doubling of Share of Gross Domestic Product

In the years between 1995 and 2020 it is in fact also expected that the share of health care expenses in relation to gross domestic product will double to an expected ten percent. As a matter of fact, if even this ten percent share of the gross domestic product remains static it is still expected that elderly health care cost would rise from its fourteen percent (in the year 1995) to approximately twenty percent in the year 2020.

In fact, while judging elderly health care costs it is also pertinent to note that present day costs of providing medical care to the elderly have been rising at an alarming four percent (approximately) per year over what it was in the previous decade. Furthermore, experts estimate that elderly health care costs in terms of spending on health care will rise from its value in 1995 (approximately nine thousand two hundred dollars) to about twenty-five thousand dollars by the year 2020.

These alarming figures are enough to set alarm bells ringing and furthermore there is every reason to expect that resources of seniors as well as those of the government will be strained to breaking point. This is certainly not good news for seniors who usually foot about a third of their medical costs on their own. However, provided certain helpful measures are taken, there is reason to believe that it is still possible to reduce elderly health care cost.

For example, if the risk of suffering from stroke among the elderly can be reduced there would be less need to worry about elderly health care cost; similarly, employers should offer employees multiple insurance plans which will have the effect of making each dollar count for more.

Elderly mental health care is another area that needs to be addressed because it is estimated that about twenty percent of adult Americans have some form of mental illness or the other that needs to be treated. Common among these mental illnesses among senior Americans are delirium, dementia as well as schizophrenia, psychosis, as well as depression.

The bottom line in regard to lowering elderly health care cost is that there is need to conduct further research on providing cheap health care without at the same time compromising on quality of health care and by understanding factors that have led to the rise in elderly health care costs find suitable remedies.

by: Richard C. Thomas

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