Demographic Trends And Its Effects On Health Care

The United States is the third most populated country in the world. This country holds about 4.5% of the world’s population. The U.S. population is currently estimated to have 308.7 million persons. This number is more than double of the population from 1950. Besides the fact of the population has doubled its size, the population has also become qualitatively different from the one from 1950. As noted by the Population Reference Bureau, “The U.S. is getting bigger, older, and more diverse.” The growth of the population is the result of the trends over time in the relationship of increased births, decreased deaths, and increased net immigration.

Jacobsen, Kent, Lee, & Mather (2011) stated, “Since women live longer than men in the United States, women will continue to make up a majority of the older population in the foreseeable future” (pg. 3). Whereas, this age distribution among men and women are expected to remain approximately the same between 2009 and 2030, there will be notable changes in the age and gender gap by 2050 as the gap grows smaller (Jacobsen, Kent, Lee, & Mather, 2011). Furthermore, according to Vincent & Velkoff (2010), by the year 2042 the United States will become more racially and ethnically diverse with the combined minority population expected to become the majority. Thus, as people in the United States age over the next several decades, the older population will also become a more racially and ethnically diverse group. In addition, the overall age structure of the population is expected to change a great deal over the next four decades (Vincent & Velkoff, 2010). This will pose even more challenges to policy makers and programs designed to help the elderly like Medicare and Social Security. Therefore, being able to project the size and structure of the older population, in regards to age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin is not only important to public interest, but also private both socially and economically (Vincent & Velkoff, 2010).

Baby boomer aging is one of the large causative factors of this increase in demand (Glicken & Miller, 2013, p.1883-1889). According to Glicken & Miller (2013), the elderly population will nearly double in the next fifteen years putting a strain on the healthcare workforce. Also, more than half of physicians have intentions on limiting care access with regards to Medicare patients. Many medical doctors are refusing to care for Medicaid patients. This is a result of the growing number of individuals now with the means to afford healthcare due to the

As this baby-boomer generation continues to age there will be profound effects on the way that money is spent on health care and insurance. With approximately 77 million people turning 65 over the next several years, the amount of government spending on Medicare will greatly increase (Gigante, 2012). Thus, the demand for medical care associated with the aging population will so

One dominant economic feature of the healthcare industry is the growing need for both basic and specialized healthcare due to the continued aging of the “Baby Boomer” generation. This generation consists of over 79,000,000 individuals born in the US between 1946 and 1964. As this generation has aged, the need for healthcare has increased dramatically. Let us take a look at some statistics:

Like longevity trends, racial trends among the elderly are an important aspect when looking at demographics of the aging population. The growing aging population is also changing in composition. The aging populace is moving to be a more racially and ethnically diverse population than previous aging populations (Ortman & Velkoff, 2014). In 2010, non-Hispanic whites made up 80% of adults aged 65 years or older, by 2030 that percent will decrease to 71.2% of the population 65 and older. It is predicted that by 2050 non-Hispanic whites will make up fewer than 60% of the

The age of population is one of the challenges the United States faces. The shift of demographics may have an effect on the needs and services of this particular population. In this paper it will be discussed how the demographics may have an impact on the health care market, how changes will affect health care such as increase in health care cost and increase in prescription drug cost.

Health service in most cases is crafted by the economic and social values systems of each respective country. It contributes to a country’s economic GDP (gross domestic product), by creating various areas of employment opportunities, examples including and not limited to the delivery of medical services, research and development of new drugs for the treatment of various ailments, insurance services to name a few (Barton, 2010, p. 3).

Projections that the United States will undergo an unavoidable demographical change by 2043 in which the minority population will be seen as the majority (Colby, & Ortman, 2014), has been consistent. The United States Census Bureau (U.S.) (2014) projects that as the largest ethnic minority, Hispanics, will grow exponentially to 128.8 million by 2060 from 53.3 million calculated in 2012 and having profound repercussions in the nation’s healthcare costs. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) (“National health expenditure,” 2014) reports a trajectory that health spending will continue to expand at an average rate of 5.7 percent between 2013-2023 and result in

The population trends that are important to the planning, financing and delivery of healthcare is the growing population of cancer and other diseases. "As a nation, we have long struggled with issues of who has the right to access which health care services and under what conditions" (Williams & Torren, 2008, pp.74). Most of American citizen's do not get the healthcare that they deserve due to demographic's. Women mortality rates are starting to raise again due to certain disease's. "Breast cancer mortality in women is the highest in the highest age groups although declining mortality from other causes, particularly diseases of the heart and the cerebrovascular illness, at least in part, leads to a higher mortality from various cancers" (Williams

The population has been steadily increasing in the United States since its founding. For a long period the US led the industrialized world in its fertility rate however, though this rate has slowed in recent generations with Americans having few babies per household, immigration into the US has become one of the main drivers of the expanding population (Wang, 2013). Furthermore, the population is also steadily aging and therefore often requires more in terms of health care services. All of these factors contribute to a trend in which health care accessibility is becoming more and more limited in all types of coverage's. For example, those who have private health insurance may be faced with higher out-of-pocket costs and limited services to attempt to control costs while those without private insurance could be potentially excluded from service all together. One study found that in 2007 nearly two-thirds of all bankruptcies were related to medical expenses; a trend that has been rapidly increasing since the turn of the century (McCarthy, 2009). It is reasonable to believe that such trends correlate to a negative perception of the health insurance system.

Yet of perhaps greatest importance to the American healthcare system and industry is the demographical information of this older population in terms of its particular characteristics and disposition. More specifically, healthcare professionals and policy analysts must understand the aging populations’ economic and living situations, and their overall health status (Jacobsen, Kent, Lee & Mather, 2011). Economic factors are key as they directly pertain to the likelihood of reliance on publically-funded healthcare programs, while “the marital status and living arrangements of the elderly are closely tied to levels of social support, economic well-being, and the availability of caregivers” (Jacobsen et al., 2011, p. 4). The importance of this population’s general health status is, of course, self-explanatory.

Changes in access to health care across different populations are the chief reason for current disparities in health care provision. These changes occur for several reasons, and some of the main factors that contribute to the problem in the United States are: Lack of health insurance – Several racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and other minority groups lack adequate health insurance coverage in comparison with people who can afford healthcare insurance. The majority of these individuals are likely to put off health care or go without the necessary healthcare and medication that is needed. Lack of financial resources – Lack of accessibility to funding is a barrier to health care for a lot of people living in the United States

“Demographics of the US population have changed dramatically in the last three decades. These changes directly impact the healthcare industry in regard to the patients we serve and our workforce” (Borkowski, 2012). In fact, Voutsas (2011) argues that the U.S workforce is the most demographically heterogeneous workforce in the world and he believes that this is due to major changes and diversity .Borkowski (2012) also states that the significant changes in the US populations has been seen greatly in regards to gender, age ,and race and ethnicity .

Over the years, there have been major shifts within the United States in regards to its population. Statisticians have estimated that 20% of the population will be 65 years of age and older. There is an even