Health Care for the Elderly

 

Health Care for the Elderly

By: Kiara Limas 

In this video, is an elderly woman named, Mary McGrory, who is forced to live in her van because she cannot afford to live in a stable home. She has skin cancer and can't afford proper treatment because she can't afford health care. The title of this video is, "One in seven US seniors live in poverty," and it may not sound as jaw-dropping as we think, but the rates are growing as the years pass. 

What healthcare is out there? 

To start off there is Medicare. Medicare was made in 1965 under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act. It provides health insurance to people age 65 or older regardless of income or medical history according to the text, "Aging, the Individual, and Society” by Susan M. Hillier and Georgia M. Barrow. Although there is some sort of insurance out there for the elderly, the problems with Medicare is that it doesn't cover the important expenses such as dental care, over-the-counter drugs, eye examinations, hearing aids, etc. Although Medicare can cover some fees when visiting the hospital or having a doctor’s visit, there’s a particular list a person has to choose from. This is a problem because not all doctors accept this form of payment and may have to choose a doctor who may not specialize as good as a doctor who isn’t on the list. The only way those with Medicare can get a doctor who may not be on the particular list is if they pay additional fees. Individuals, especially those who are older shouldn’t be limited to receiving the care that they need. We don’t have a system that is flattening the curve of seniors not being able to afford medical care. 

Moving onto Medicaid, those with low-income are those who rely on this kind of care. In the text, “Aging, the Individual, and Society” by Susan M. Hillier and Georgia M. Barrow states that, “For those who qualify, Medicaid helps pay for a wide variety of hospital and other services. Medicaid pays for services Medicare does not cover…” (Hillier and Barrow 249) It is not fair how with certain pricing rising, some people can’t keep up with the expenses such as Mary McGrory. Mary relies on living in her van while getting food from local charity fundraisers to eat. There is no system to help the senior citizens get out of positions like that and be able to find an apartment while affording medical expenses. Mary lives with skin cancer and is not able to treat her condition because there is no support system that will give her the opportunity to be able to give her assistance to pay off the expenses. 

Statistics 

This chart shows people 55 and makeup for 56% of total health spending in 2019, despite making up only 30% of the population. Also, people under age 35 made up 45% of the population but were responsible for only 21% of spending.

Why is it important? 

People who are 65 and older are no longer able to work and have to rely on the fundings they provided for themselves over their years of working. Not everyone is granted access to a well-paying job, so some people's fundings aren't reliable to live for the next 20 years or so on their own. This issue affects me because before I found out about this information, I didn't care to think much of it. Growing up, I watched my both of grandmothers live a comfortable life and didn't take into consideration about how there are some that struggle day to day basis. I grew up in a comfortable city where I didn't see much suffering, up until I started working in Downtown Los Angeles where I was more exposed to seeing how many people have been let down. This became eye opening for me because I began to think about how I want to work hard and make sure I live with sufficient funds to be able to provide for myself. By the time I am older, I hope that there is a better system that will provide better care for the elders of this country, so that way there is no more suffering. 

References

Hillier, S. M., & Barrow, G. M. (2015). Aging, the Individual, and Society (10th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Al Jazeera English. (2012, October 2). One in seven US seniors live in poverty [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGqoxJCTTxg

Ortaliza, J., Ortaliza, J., McGough, M., Twitter, E. W., Claxton, G., & Twitter, K. A. (2021, November 12). How do health expenditures vary across the population? Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker. Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-expenditures-vary-across-population/