Older People Report Their Top 10 Health-Related Concerns Ahead of the Election 👉 Updatem News

A new analysis of a poll published in July illustrates the main health-related concerns on the minds of potential voters.

With only a few months until the 2024 elections, health care costs are the main health-related concern of older adults, according to a new University of Michigan poll analysis.

“Although policymakers have taken steps in recent years to reduce health care costs for older adults, particularly related to prescription drugs in Medicare, our survey suggests older voters have a strong interest in more action on this issue,” Dr. John Z. Ayanian, a professor of medicine at the University of Michigan and lead author of the study told The Epoch Times.

“Candidates for the president and Congress should focus on communicating their plans for controlling the costs of health care,” he said.

Ayanian said it is important for the candidates to be well-informed about the concerns of older people. The researchers reported that more than half of the ballots cast in the 2020 election came from voters 50 or older.

“We were surprised how consistently over half of older adults were very concerned about the costs of medical care and prescription drugs across the political spectrum and among nearly all demographic groups defined by gender, race, education, income, or region,” Ayanian said.

The results of the National Poll on Healthy Aging were released in July, but with elections approaching, the researchers performed a new analysis.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), was directed by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. It received financial support from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Veterans Health Administration.

Conservatives Are Less Concerned About Costs

One of the main focuses of the analysis was how Americans of different political beliefs thought about health care costs. More than 2,500 people were surveyed, with an almost even split between male and female participants.

“Liberal and moderate individuals [were] more concerned (about health care costs) than conservative individuals,” the researchers wrote.

About 70 percent of self-reported liberals said they were “very concerned” about the cost of medical care for older adults, with over 60 percent also “very concerned” about the cost of prescription medications. A little over half of conservative participants reported the same level of concern.

Participants also reported concerns about health care financial scams and fraud, said the researchers.

Women reported being more concerned about health care costs than men. After adjusting for demographic characteristics, researchers found that black people were the most concerned about costs, followed by Hispanics and then white people.

Top 10 Health-Related Concerns

Researchers presented seniors with a list of 26 health-related concerns to determine which ones they were “very worried about.”

The top concerns for older adults were the cost of medical care and home care, assisted living, or nursing home care. Fifty-six percent of participants were very concerned about these topics.

More than half of the participants were very concerned about the cost of prescription medications, financial scams and fraud, and the cost of health insurance and Medicare.

The top 10 health-related concerns of those surveyed were as follows:

Cost of home care, assisted living, or nursing home care
Cost of medical care
Cost of prescription medications
Financial scams and fraud
Cost of health insurance/Medicare
Cost of dental care
Access to quality home care, assisted living, or nursing home care
Health care quality
Inaccurate or misleading health information
Access to affordable healthy foods

Other concerns included poverty, isolation or loneliness, neighborhood safety, and age discrimination.

Poll Showed Older People Undergoing Financial Stress

The original poll showed that 47 percent of older adults said inflation has greatly affected them in the past year.

More than half of respondents said they had to reduce spending by cutting back on at least one everyday expense. Thirty-eight percent said they went without some social and recreational activities; 30 percent bought fewer personal items; 28 percent skimped on groceries; 27 percent cut back on home maintenance; and 15 percent purchased less gasoline.

Over one-third of respondents agreed with this statement regarding the past year: “I am concerned that the money I have or will save won’t last as long as I need it to.”

Additionally, 16 percent of seniors reported having trouble paying for health care services, prescription drugs, or health insurance. This same group also said they went without health care treatment or delayed treatment.

Although many people 65 or older lived on a fixed income, they reported less financial strain than those aged 50 to 64.

“Health problems can further challenge people’s financial status, and financial strain can contribute to poorer health,” researchers conducting the poll wrote. “It is important to recognize and support older adults who are experiencing financial challenges and provide education and opportunities to reduce their risk for adverse financial, health, and other outcomes.”

Original News Source Link – Epoch Times

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