Senior Thought – America’s Rising Medical Expenses Threaten Senior Citizens

If you’re a working individual like me and you are still having a problem budgeting your money on medical expenses, then you have got to understand what it feels to be old and in need of medical attention.

Perhaps it’s time to be alarmed, as a growing number of Americans are not getting the right health care because they can’t possibly afford it. According to a recent survey conducted by the Commonwealth Fund’s Biennial Health Insurance Survey, around 43% of America’s working age adults have not seen a doctor when they were ill. If you put up an estimate on the figure, close to80 million people did not have access to proper health care last year.

If we do some backtracking, that’s over 75 million people in 2010 and 63 million in 2003.

Our country’s healthcare insurance situation has clearly gone from bad to worse. If the working-age adults are having a hard time getting the right medical services nowadays, then how much more can we expect from our senior citizens? With more people entering into the retirement age, perhaps now might be the right time to come up with a back up plan on staying fit and healthy.

With the high costs of medical insurance, it is not surprising why a lot of people have opted not to be insured, but the same people are going to have a lot of problems getting the best hospital care in the future. Is this one reason why rumours of some health centres are now having difficulty when it comes to hospital infection control because of the low healthcare budget? Who knows. One thing is sure though; this won’t be too much of a good news for the elderly citizens.

For those who are already comfortable enough with their senior medical insurance, it is still right to be worried. With the high costs of medical expenses, you’ll most likely realize that you’d get lesser health care service from some hospitals nowadays. Nearly 3 out of 10 adults have said that they do not visit a doctor in a hospital or clinic when they have medical problems simply because they can’t afford the fees anymore. This does not include those who have not visited their doctor again but need follow-up check ups because of the nature of their disease.

In fact, 28% of patients with chronic diseases, like hypertension, heart disease and diabetes, who need prescribed drugs have opted to not buy the said medicine, since it’s too expensive for them. And to think that these diseases are more prevalent towards people who are now over the age of 50 and above! Perhaps it’s time for our government to take a look into this problem and come up with the right solution before all is too late.

So what does one have to do in order to survive the high medical expense nightmare? I guess it’s back to the basics for all of us. Eating a healthy diet, lots of proper exercise, and living a stress-free life are some of the easiest solutions so far when it comes to staying away from the hospital!

About the Author:

Jessica Greenberg is a caregiver and avid blogger from San Diego, California. When she’s having her days-off, she enjoys surfing the Internet with a hot cup of coffee in her hand while checking articles about care-giving and senior care. She also enjoys updating Wordbaristas.com, a blog that she keeps together with her friends.

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