Question

Why might older people's health care expenditures increase? Do you think health expenditures among eldery could be controlled and how? Population ageing is often described as the main cause of health expenditure boom- are there some other much important determinants that could explain this growth(explain)?

Answer 1

Why Older People have higher health care expenditures?

Healthcare expenditures have slowly and gradually increased across all countries in the world. It is one event which is so unplanned primarily in developing and underdeveloped economies that it exhausts savings across all sections of the society.

Procedures and medicines in today's time are costing a bomb thanks to patent rights which manufacturers tend to have over the same.

Due to the life cycles of humans, older people are more prone to be hospitalized and have a chronic illness. This is because their ability to recover is reduced and they are unable to respond well to medication and treatments as compared to a young patient. Further vaccinations and immunizations were not part of the healthcare routine for these patients early in their lives and therefore they are more prone to illness increasing their overall expenditure.

How Expenditure Can Be Controlled:-

The basis of controlling expenses for an ageing population is done with the use of insurance policies which cover the insured when in need. Primarily in developed countries wherein insurance premiums are mandatory, the expenses of people are well covered and these can then be reduced for an individual.

The other main option is to improve the public healthcare delivery system which the government controls so that much of the demand reaches them instead of private players. This will improve the cost aspect for the buyer and if they can maintain similar quality as that of private players, then people would prefer them over private hospitals which charge much higher prices.

Determinants:-

While, aging is a valid factor which increases the costs of healthcare in a country, there are other important factors which play a similar role. These are as listed

(1) Lack of Insurance Cover in the Population is said to increase the healthcare expenditure in most developing and underdeveloped economies

(2) Failure of Government owned hospitals to provide critical care to the population makes them shift to private counterparts which increases the overall healthcare costs.

(3) Lifestyle Modifications which are in place in most countries disallowing people to exercise and rather leading a confined life is another reason for increase in healthcare expenditures.

(4) Drug resistance is another reason for an increase in healthcare expenditure. Doctors previously used to prescribe antibiotics without realizing this aspect. The microorganisms targeted have become resistant making expenditure on second line drugs much expensive.

(5) Lack of government initiative in reducing prices primarily in developing and underdeveloped areas is also an equivalent reason for increased expenditure.

Please feel free to ask your doubts in the comments section if any.