Age and Health

1. Age and Health Savannah Dean, Nick Blankenship, and Chara Hawley

2. Ageism • What is ageism? • Ageism is the belief that one age category is better/ more superior than another age category. • It’s normally directed to the elderly aged category • The media reinforces ageism, for example elderly people are seldom used to sell household products, cosmetics, clothing or automobiles. They normally sell medications or health related devices.

3. The Aging World • Today there are approximately 606 million people aged 60 and older. • It is estimated by 2050 this number will grow approximately by 2 million. • In 2000 12% of the population in the US was aged 65 or older. In 2010 it rose to 19%. It’s said that in 2050 one in every five people will be elderly. • What is the baby boom generation? • The approximately 76 million children that were born during the period from 1946-1960

4. The politics of Aging: • Elderly people are forced into the middle of politics. They have become a political force and topics of many debates. • Few politicians are willing to run the risk of ignoring the needs of older Americans.

5. The politics of Aging continued: • Several groups work to bring the special needs of the elderly to national attention. • AARP- largest special interest group in the US, it provides many services for it’s members: financial advice, health insurance plans and travel and prescription-drug discounts. • National Council of Senior Citizens • The National Council of Aging • Gray Panthers

6. The politics of Aging in the Social Security System: • In 1960 the dependency ratio(the number of workers for each person receiving Social Security benefits) was 5:1 • By 1998 the ratio decline to three workers for every one retiree.

7. Medicare/ Medicaid: • What is medicare? • The government sponsored health-insurance plan for elderly Americans and Americans with disabilities • What is medicaid? • The state and federally funded health insurance program for low-income individuals. These two programs are the sold sources of health insurance for close to one quarter of elderly Americans.

8. Age Inequality in the United States: • In 1959, 35% of older Americans lived in poverty. • Today the poverty rate for the elderly is 10.2%. • In comparison, the poverty rate for the general population is 16.2%

9. Inequality and Health

10. The facts: • Poor people are less likely than wealthy Americans to receive adequate medical care • Children born to poor families are 60 percent more likely to die within the first year of life than children born to wealthier families • Children born to poor families are three times more likely to have only fair or poor health • More than 23 percent of poor children have no health insurance

11. The poor also suffer disproportionately from diseases such as influenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis, alcoholism, and heart disease. • Poorer people Americans have a much lower life expectancy then wealthy Americans

12. Health-Care Issues for Today

13. Health Insurance • More than 80% of medical costs in the United States are covered by private or public insurance • Most people obtain private insurance from their employers • Pubic insurance includes government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid.

14. Problems with Health Insurance • Critics note that the Medicare-Medicaid system has created very uneven heath-care delivery. • The kinds of procedures and treatments covered and the levels to which they covered, vary among private health-insurance plans • Some hospitals and doctors will not accepts all kinds of insurance

15. Alternative Medicine • Alternative Medicine includes treating illness with unconventional methods such as acupuncture, acupressure, biofeedback, message, meditation, yoga, herbal remedies, and relaxation techniques.

16. A Pressing Health Problem • Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) • A disease that attacks the immune system, leaving a person vulnerable to a host of deadly infections • HIV • A disease that is transmitted through sexual contact, contaminated blood and tissue, and the use of contaminated hypodermis needles

17. Americans with Disabilities and Health Care in the United States

18. Americans with Disabilities • There are 53 million people with disabilities in the United States. The term disability covers a wide variety of conditions. These include physical disabilities; chronic health impairments; mental retardation; mental illness; and visual, hearing, or speech impairments. The severest forms of disability include blindness, deafness, and paralysis. About 33 million Americans have severe disabilities.

19. The ADA • The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) addresses four main areas: employment, public services, public accommodations, and telecommunications. The ADA also makes it illegal to deny Americans with disabilities to benefit of public services, including transportation. The ADA has brought some improvement to the lives of Americans with disabilities, but much remains to be done. One of the main goals of the ADA was to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

20. Health Care • The United States spends a higher percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP) on health care than any other country in the world. For example medicare payments increased from about $107 billion in 1990 to nearly $219 billion in 2000.

21. Quality of Health Care • Managed Care is one popular method of controlling health expenditures is the use of alternative health insurance plans.

22. Access to Health Care • Access to health care is a problem for many Americans. Geographically, most physicians concentrate in wealthy urban and suburban areas. In such areas, doctor to population ratios are low. But, in poor inner city and rural areas ratios are high. For example in the exclusive Beverly Hills area of Los Angeles there is one doctor for every 254 people. In some poverty stricken areas of south central Los Angeles there is approximately one doctor for every 24,500 people.