Seniors’ Health On A Global Scale
Seniors in America have more chronic health problems and take more medications than seniors in 10 other industrialized countries do, according to a new global survey.
The United States also stood out among the 11 nations surveyed by The Commonwealth Fund for having more seniors struggling to get and afford the health care they need.
Eighty-seven percent of U.S. adults who are 65 and older suffer from at least one chronic illness, and 68 percent have at least two illnesses, which were the highest rates found, the survey showed. Also, 53 percent of older Americans take at least four medications, another record high, and 21 percent spend at least $2,000 in yearly out-of-pocket health care costs, which was second only to Switzerland.
“The retirement of baby boomers means pressure on Medicare will intensify,” Dr. David Blumenthal, president of The Commonwealth Fund, said during a news briefing Tuesday to announce the study findings, which were published online Nov. 19 in the journal Health Affairs.
Despite the moderating of health care costs in recent years, Blumenthal added, “Costs are still going up too fast to be sustainable over the long term, and this will be exacerbated by increasing numbers of elderly individuals.”
The study’s lead author and Commonwealth Fund vice president, Robin Osborn, noted at the news briefing: “Those over 65 in the U.S. will almost double from 2005 to 2030. These sicker adults will likely put a strain on the health care system [which] will need to transform to meet the challenges of an aging population.”
For the survey, the researchers collected responses from more than 15,000 older adults in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Most all of the other countries have some form of universal health insurance, and American seniors have Medicare, but Osborn said striking differences emerged in the survey: Seniors’ Health On A Global Scale
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