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Elderly Spend 19% of Income on Medical Care
In the April 2000 issue of Journal of Gerontology, comes an article showing
that the elderly spend a large portion of their income for medical
services. The study showed these expenses to include out-of-pocket
expenses such as health insurance premiums, medical co-payments, and
prescriptions, with more than half of these payments going toward prescription
drugs and dental care.
The lead author, Stephen Crystal, chairman of the Division on Aging of the
Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research at Rutgers
University summed up the findings with a comment, "Nineteen percent is
fairly burdensome for the average elderly person, but the figures are even worse
for those in the lowest income levels, for those with chronic health problems
and for the oldest of the old."
Probably the largest portion of that expense is prescription drugs. According to
the study, prescribed medication costs have grown to account for 33.9%, more
than one-third, of the overall-all out-of-pocket expenses for the elderly.
Presently, there is a push for coverage of prescription drugs by various
programs that cover the elderly. The fears are that if coverage is
obtained both the price and amount of drugs prescriptions will increase.
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