U.S. seniors sicker than their peers from other countries
Staff Writer |
It's often no fun getting old in America: A new report finds the availability of health care for U.S. seniors lags behind that of other affluent nations.
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Access to insurance isn't an issue, because all Americans 65 and older are covered by Medicare. But America's seniors are still sicker than the elderly in other countries - and are more likely to go without essential care because they can't afford it, according to the Commonwealth Fund study.
"Our Medicare is not as generous as comparable insurance in other countries," fund President Dr. David Blumenthal said during a media briefing on Tuesday.
In other countries, government health insurance is not restricted to the elderly, but covers everyone, he said.
The United States is complacent about the value and benefits associated with Medicare, even though it's a universal system, Blumenthal said.
"We do know that we, as a country, do tolerate higher levels of inequality. That's most evident in the fact that we underinvest, compared to other countries, in social services and overinvest, despite the lack of generosity of our insurance, in health care," he said.
Providing more social services to the elderly might help reduce the inequality of care, Blumenthal said.
For the study, researchers surveyed older adults about their health care. Participants came from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Almost one-quarter of U.S. seniors didn't go to a doctor in the past year when sick or they didn't get a recommended test or fill a prescription because they couldn't afford it.
In France, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, no more than 5 percent of older adults skipped care because of costs, the researchers found.
In the United States, 22 percent of seniors spent $2,000 or more on out-of-pocket costs during the past year. The only country with higher out-of-pocket costs was Switzerland, with 31 percent spending more than $2,000 out of pocket.
Among all the other countries, less than 10 percent of seniors spent $2,000 or more, researchers found.
Among U.S. seniors, 25 percent said they worried about having the money to buy food or pay rent or bills for heat or electricity or medical care.
However, in France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, only 10 percent or less said they had these concerns.
Seniors in many countries who suffered from several chronic health problems or had trouble with the basic activities of daily living reported being dissatisfied with the quality of their care.
For example, in Australia, 41 percent were somewhat or not at all satisfied, compared with 26 percent in the United States and 21 percent in Switzerland, the country rated the best in satisfaction. ■