...Health Care Reform Project, Part I Team HCS 440 Class University of Phoenix Online March 5, 2012 Health Care Reform Project, Part I Within the United States are many concerns about health care economics. Health care costs are continuing to rise and it contributes to the impact of providing the older population with medical care. “The aging of the U.S. population is translating into many more visits to doctors' offices and hospitals, a reality that is taxing weak spots in the health-care system” (The Associated Press, 2008, para. 1. Within this paper, the economic impact of providing the older population with medical care has on the provision of health care services to the public will be addressed. Also articles that support medical care to the older population will be addressed along with possible solutions to the economic impact of providing medical care to an older population. Economic Impact of Providing Medical Care to an Aging Population The world’s population is continuing to age, and the older people are the more likely he or she to seek medical care. The larger proportion of the hospital in-patient case load is represented by the older population. The older population has more complications and doctors have to perform more tests and procedures on them. According to Cauchon (2008), “the cost of health care and retirement benefits of an aging population threatens to bankrupt the nation...
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...Medical Care for an Aging Population Medical Care for an Aging Population Aging – an inevitable event all people face. No matter race, ethnicity, or gender, aging affects all individuals in ways as unique as one’s personality. As the Baby-Boomer generation reaches retirement age, the need for expanding national geriatric medical services has become an urgent matter. Even with an increase in a healthier population of seniors in today’s world, many elderly people often have multiple chronic illnesses, ranging from high blood pressure to such serious diagnosis’s as kidney failure; and both major and minor (or easily treatable diseases) can be expensive to treat. The Unites States, like many other counties of the world, is in a health care crisis. Also like other countries, the U.S. government has stepped to the plate to try to find a solution to be sure not only the aging population’s medical needs are met but also all other citizens of the country. Health Care Reform and health care costs are a current hot topic for the U.S., and many ideas, solutions, and opinions exists on the issue. To further evaluate and gain alternative perspective, three articles (each with a different perspective on the subject) have been reviewed and summarized to help reach a better understanding of what the aging population and rising health care costs they will accrue means to the financial state of the Unites States. Article one is an article related to the increasing demand for medical...
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...The Health Care Reform Project Michele Anne Campbell, Nadine Avelar, Melissa Bishop, Patricia Estrada, Ora Taylor HCS/440 June 22, 2014 Caryn Callahan The Health Care Reform Project A current health care economic issue is medical care for an aging population. Because of the baby boomers, the current population of aging Americans is increased from previous years. This is a growing trend that shows no obvious signs of slowing down. With each generation, more people are born and each generation will continue to have a larger population than its predecessor. The result is an increase in the need for funding the medical care for this aging population. We currently have Medicare and Social Security, but just like every financial source, it has its limits. It has been predicted that by the time the baby boomers grandchildren reach the age for retirement, there will be a lack of or absence of the resources necessary to fund their Medicare and Social Security benefits. There does not seem to be any resolutions to this issue. The only possible solution to this current issue is prevention. There are two different types of prevention. The first is preparation for the financial deficit toward health care for this group is a pre-meditated and sustained savings plan. Most people save their money for retirement, but not for medical care. The reality is that people spend more money on health care during later years that on vacation or retirement. Today’s retirees are often still working...
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...Health care for the aging population Baby boomers are living longer and longer; by 2030 one n five Americans will be over age sixty five, and the healthcare system is just beginning to feel the burden (Matthews, 2013). Healthcare for the aging population will have to change for the better for them since so many elders are living to unexpected ages from the past. Doctors must prepare and rethink every aspect of care for the older population, even rethinking the way there going to die(Matthews, 2013). On the other hand the country has to figure out how to pay for this extra care and how to support the older population. As the elder population grow and grow there will be a higher demand for geriatrician; geriatrician will help the elders prepare to live a healthier and longer life on there on. That leads into the decline in care givers; and how some elderly does not want to be a burden on their family they have to rely on visiting nurse to come provide them with the assistance they need or even get put in an assisted living home so they can receive the care around the clock that they need. This builds more and more medical expenses for the seniors that they can not really afford. An elderly expense is double the amount versus an individual that is under the age of sixty five; with all of the expenses from the elderly the younger generation is starting to feel the pressure of cost in healthcare going up. Furthermore, that leads into how we can come up with a solution to provide...
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...Medical Care for an Aging Population HCS/440 Economics: The Financing of Healthcare University of Phoenix Online Medical Care for an Aging Population There are many issues that face the health care system for the aging population such as the strain on major funding programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and social security by not having enough funding to cover the growing baby boomer population as they reach retirement age. Social security is the largest federal spending program and Medicare is the fastest growing program and with less working adults than those 65 and older, these programs face issues that could be solved in several ways including raising the retirement age beyond 65, Raising the taxable wage limits for social security and Medicare, and building more long term care and memory care facilities. With an increase in the aging population medical care may be difficult to afford as the increased use of services puts a strain on funding programs requiring changes on how we fund these programs and who will qualify. Raising Retirement Age There are many issues that face the health care system for the aging population such as the strain on major funding programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and social security by not having enough funding to cover the growing baby boomer population as they reach retirement age. Raising the retirement age beyond age 65 is a proposed solution to increase the funding for the program. Life expectancy continues to grow and we are living...
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...of Health Care Medical Care for an Aging Population Countries around the world are encountering a growing number of the elder demographic. The aging population has created situations that the world’s economy and health care that have never encountered. The elders leaving the workforce and entering retirement has created new challenges in an already fragile global economy and health care system, and it is uncertain what the impact will in America. Questions rose about how the aging population will affect the economy. Will these changes bring new opportunities for the aging population because of the healthier life style and longer life expectancies currently seen today? Will physically and mentally healthier seniors be able to manage longer working years? Alternatively, will it result in a shortage of worker in the workforce leaving an overwhelming burden on the younger population? This paper summarizes three articles that attempt to bring to light the various challenges the nation is encountering in its preparation to care for the aging population. Additionally it will provide the readers with some recommendations on strategies both the American industries and government can use to prepare for the loss of a large percentage of the workforce who will start retiring in the next decade. The burden of geriatric health issues While countries across the globe are scrambling to make the necessary preparation to accommodate medical care for the aging population, the United...
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...Demographic Paper HCS /490 Demographic Paper This paper will expound upon the demographics of the aging population, data that is gathered of the said population and describe the general impact that the changing demographics may have on the health care market. Why and how will the changes in the aging population affect healthcare. In addition, identify two key health care related challenges for the aging population such as increase in health care costs, increases in prescription drugs costs, or the need for in home medical care. How a chronic disease wellness program may affect the cost of the aging population. What can the demographics tell you about the marketing needs of services needed for the aging population, finally how can a patient; the community and society as a whole address the challenges of the aging population. After gathering data about the aging population, it is understandable that it is similar to the statistics of the human population such as birth, deaths, infant mortality, and life expectancy rates. According to Kotler, Shalowitz, & Stevens (2008), people seek health care services for a number of reasons, such as illnesses, accidents, preventions and incurring injuries in one form or another. In addition, most people seek health care services because of the influence of merchants, mainly pharmaceutical companies that encourage patients to seek care for a diversity of known diseases and symptoms. This encouragement may come from public service announcements...
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...for the Baby Boomer Population Thomas Watrucki Thomas Edison State College Mentor Tish Dorman December 7th, 2014 The “baby boomer” generation (those born from 1946-1964) are now our retirement-age elderly that we healthcare providers are challenged with caring for. The Population Reference Bureau estimates that there are 76.4 million baby boomers (as of April 2014). About 3 million baby boomers will hit retirement age every year for the next 20 years (Barr, 2014). Healthypeople.gov estimates that 60 percent of this population will be managing more than one chronic condition by 2030. The American Hospital Association notes that the over 65 population will nearly triple as a result of the aging Boomers. What this means for us healthcare providers is that our healthcare system will be challenged with caring for a significantly increased amount of elderly with chronic ailments that we are seeing now. This will increase healthcare costs as chronic disease management increases and transitions are made from private insurance carriers to Medicare. I interviewed a baccalaureate nurse who works on the geriatric medical surgical unit in my hospital and asked her to identify the special needs of the Baby Boomer Generation. She has been a nurse for 25 years and has worked on that unit for the past 12 years. Looking back on her experience and the current trends of problems she encounters with this generation, specifically with the lower income minority population that we work with, she...
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...Health Care Reform Paper Medical care for an aging population has a negative outcomes and the aging population are the most significant consumers of health resources across both acute and community settings. Both formal systems and families are involved in this care of elders. This paper reviews health care issues for older adults and addresses the impact of frailty on the future health care system. It also presents challenges for future care, creative solutions that are currently being tested and explored, and suggestions for future nursing priorities. Challenges in the care of frail elders include: the organization and sustainability of the continuum of services, resource allocation, and cultural competence in service delivery. Creative solutions include intensive case management programs, targeting at risk older adults, partnerships with families, Medicare and the health care reform. In the coming years, there will be unprecedented demand for all goods and services required by individuals in their seventh through tenth decades of life. To meet the growing need, both the impressive heterogeneity of the aging population, and the diversity of preferences, requirements, and trajectories of health and life must be appreciated. Consider the real possibility that a family might include three generations, all over the age of 65. Imagine a centenarian woman with an 84 year-old daughter, and a 65 year-old grandson. This is not an unrealistic scenario for the 50,545 centenarians currently...
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...Nursing homes have been exceedingly convenient and serviceable over the years for the aging population, whom are faced with the prospect of moving themselves or a love one into a nursing home. These facilities are for aging individuals or anyone who needs care for a long period of time and need high level of care, but don’t need to be hospitalized and can’t be cared for at home. They provide their residents with room and board, health care insurance, nursing aides and skilled nursing care, rehabilitation, and a thorough scope of additional treatment, programs, and therapies. Residents in nursing homes also receive non-medical care such as assistance with eating, bathing, dressing, and getting in and out of bed. In addition, residents are supervised by a licensed physician,...
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...Over the next twenty years, there will be an enormous increase for adults 65 and over. This elderly population will definitely need primary, acute and long term care. In comparison with today’s 12% it has been predicted that Americans who reach 65 and older will be one in five. In this paper, I will discuss the challenges and issues about the aging adult population in America. Due to this expected growth of the adult population over the next 50 years, there will be a great impact on the health care system in regards to the supply and demand of health care professionals. Many of the elderly populations are living longer, some are continuing to work by reducing their hours of work and some are expected to retire and the need for health care services will increase. The healthcare workforce must be equipped, trained and prepared to provide services for this aging population (Institute of Medicine, 2008). People born between 1946 and 1964 are called the baby boomers, has an enormous effect on the health care system in America. The rising cost of health care is spiraling out of control, increasing the cost of hospitalization for the elderly patient population. As the century progresses the elderly population will increase to 54 million by 2020, this would equal 20% of the U.S. population increasing from today’s 12%. The elderly population will need more health care services and is more likely to use multiple medications, suffer from chronic physical mental illness...
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...Supply and Demand Solution Summary Economics is the “the scientific study of the choices made by individuals and societies in regard to the alternative uses of scarce resources which are employed to satisfy wants” (Rodda, 2004, p. 1). One basic principle of economics is supply and demand, which is considered the most useful concept in economics. The theory of supply and demand is a powerful tool in predicting future behavior. Supply and demand is two key concepts for health care. Problem Baby Boomers make up about 78 million Americans. According to Sanderson (2010) “they account for 90% of nursing homes, 38% of emergency medical responses, 34% of prescription, 35% of hospital stays, and 26% of physician office visits” (p. 2). The Baby Boomers will need health care so the demand for employees will continue to increase over the next decade and beyond (Gigane, 2012). “The Baby Boomer generation is aging and will need more health care support (demand) over the next few years. “Nurses and primary care physicians (PCP) will be needed (supply) to meet this demand. Reduction in Medicare payments leaving PCP’s scrambling to keep their practices complicate the supply chain for this increasing demand” (UOPX, 2012, para.). According to the American Hospital Association “a Boomer population that is more ethnically and racially diverse will require delivery systems and caregivers that are sensitive to cultural differences and how those differences impact care” (p. 7). The nursing shortage...
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...educational, and socio – demographic implications can bring serious impact on access to quality healthcare in the organization. Labor shortage will stay an important component that can affect as well the access to quality care. Socio – demographic changes linked with chronic illnesses can have an effect on the aging population, which may reduce the quality of life, increase costs for healthcare and rise resource allocation. In point of fact, both labor shortage and socio – demographic changes are exactingly dominant in the admittance to quality care in the United States. Besides, the demand for registered nurses and changes in science is already exceeding supply in U.S. nation, including more implications associated with other ethical dilemmas. Healthcare Labor Shortage People have to realize that progresses in medical technology, increasing expenses and market forces provide to the financial decline of many rural healthcare organizations. In reality, small rural healthcare suppliers, particularly hospitals, cannot meet the costs of the equipment and practitioners needed to treat the range of modern syndrome and injury. In fact, coronary bypass surgery, complex trauma care, artery repair, and other compound procedures will call for enthusiastic remedial teams, utensils, equipments, and facilities as imperative demand. In reply to research library database a coalition stated, “The Center to...
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...Demographics of an Aging Society Sherry Grant HCS/490 August 27. 2012 Mrs. Makala Pollard Demographics of an Aging Society The natural order of the life cycle states that all babies will grow old. Barring any disasters along the way this is in fact true. With the various technologies available, increased knowledge of medicine and treatment, and the resources available to caregivers the life expectancy of humans has increased greatly. With this increase come several changes in the health care market, concern for resources, and challenges to meet the necessary needs of this growing population of elderly health care consumers. Between 1900 and 2000, life expectancy in the U.S increased from 51 to 80 years for women and from 48 to 72 years for men (Population Reference Bureau, 2002). By 2030, it is estimated that 70 million U.S citizens will be over age 65, and 8.5 million Americans will be over age 85 (National Center for Health Statistics, 1999). This increasing elderly population will have a growing need for health care services, a need for resources available for not only the elderly health care consumers but also for those that care for them. With the increasing life expectancy comes an increasing prevalence of chronic disease. It is estimated that by 2040, almost 160 million people in the U.S, most of them elderly, will be living with chronic conditions (Population Reference Bureau, 2002). Chronic conditions pose a threat to the patient in the sense that their daily...
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...burial records (Siegel, 2012:7). Pol and Thomas (2013:2) further maintains that the field of health demography represent to a greater extent a synthesis and reformulation of concepts and substantive data previously developed in a variety of other fields. Its main characteristics reflects “the convergence of traditional demography with aspects of biostatistics and epidemiology” (Pol & Thomas, 2013:2). Siegel (2012:7) asserts that demography resemble other disciplines specifically the demography of aging and medical sociology. Siegel (2012:7) further asserts that health demography and the epidemiology of aging share many areas, however these areas may place different emphasis. Siegel...
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