Can the elderly afford eye care? Can we afford eye care for the elderly?
Perhaps no group of Americans has a greater stake in the issues raised by the rapid growth in health care spending than the elderly. The elderly consume a share of the nation's health care that is disproportionate to their numbers. In 1984, per capita health care spending for the elderly was four times that for the rest of the population. Ophthalmic expenses form a significant portion of their health care spending. Increasing numbers of elderly and per capita spending have placed enormous pressure on Medicare. In recent years, changing patterns of ophthalmic care have influenced the size and direction of Medicare expenditures; for example, new technologies in cataract surgery have shifted services from inpatient to outpatient settings. Such shifting of costs and other program changes must be analyzed to determine the impact on future Medicare expenditures and beneficiaries.
McPhillips
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Bureau of Data Management and Strategy, Health Care Financing Administration, Baltimore, MD 21207.
D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000191:economics; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D006278:Medicare; D014481:United States; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000628:therapy*