Title: The coming health crisis : who will pay for care for the aged in the twenty-first century? /
Authors: Wolfe, John R.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press,
Year: 1993
Subjects: Health Services for the Aged economics; Age distribution (Demography); Medicare; Older people Long-term care United States Finance; Older people Medical care United States Finance; Medicare economics; United States
Abstract: By the turn of the century, the largest generation of Americans in history, the "Baby Boomers," will be approaching age 65 years. But as the demand for health and long-term care is growing dramatically, health care programs have been shrinking instead of expanding to meet the older generation's needs. In this timely book, John R. Wolfe offers practical solutions to the coming health crisis, exploring innovative ways of developing insurance plans for the care of the large, aging "Baby Boom" generation and beyond. In previous decades, when younger Americans far outnumbered older ones, retirees could depend on financial support through taxes from the population at large. But as "Boomers" retire and the work force begins to shrink, there will be a disproportionately large population of retirees to workers. With such a big jump in the percentage of older Americans in the population, fewer workers will be able to transfer funds, through taxes, to retirees.^
Contents: 1. Introduction -- 2. Medical and Long-Term Care in the Twenty-first Century: Profile and Projection of the Aged Population. The Economic Status of the Aged. Mortality and Morbidity Trends. Needs and Burdens: Demography, Resource Use, and Economic Growth -- 3. Medical and Long-Term Care Today: Financing Problems and Gaps in Coverage. The Emerging Weakness of Pay-as-You-Go Financing. Medical Care: Medicare Coverage and Financing. Long-Term Care: A Porous Safety Net -- 4. Problems of Private Insurance. Adverse Selection. Moral Hazard. Pay-as-You-Go Financing of Employer-Provided Insurance -- 5. Financing Twenty-first Century Care: Alternative Approaches. Medical Care. Alternative Financing of Long-Term-Care Services -- 6. What Can Be Done.