Health Care Costs, Financial Scams Top List of Health Concerns Among Older Adults
Participants were asked to rate their level of concern on 26 health topics.
When it comes to health topics, older adults are most concerned about health care costs and financial scams, according to research published in JAMA.1
Bills in prescription medication bottle / Cagkan - stock.adobe.com
The study, led by a team from the University of Michigan’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation (IHPI), was based on data from the National Poll on Healthy Aging. The recurring survey of adults 50 years or older was conducted online and by phone with a stratified random sample of adults 50 to 101 years old in February and March 2024.
For each of 26 health topics, participants were asked to rate their level of concern (very, somewhat, or not concerned), as older adults in their community. Participants’ demographic characteristics were stratified by age, gender identity, race and ethnicity, education, annual household income, US Census region, political ideology, and residential area.
In total, 2576 older adults completed the study.
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Overwhelmingly, health care and insurance costs ranked among the primary concerns for older adults, with 44.6% (95% CI, 42.9%-46.3%) to 56.3% (95% CI, 53.7%-59.0%) reporting they were very concerned about these issues. Financial scams and fraud also accounted for a large area of concern, with 52.8% (95% CI, 49.4%-56.1%) of participants reporting being very concerned. The remaining 20 issues elicited far less concern, with percentages falling between 10.6% (95% CI, 9.5%-12.0%) and 38.1% (95% CI, 34.6%-41.7%) of older adults reporting being very concerned.
When analyzed across sociodemographic factors, older adults’ concerns about medical costs varied widely. Those aged 50 to 64 years (59.6% [95% CI, 57.4%-61.8%]), women (59.3% [95% CI, 57.1%-61.5%]), liberals (68.2% [95% CI, 62.9%-73.6%]), and residents of nonmetropolitan areas (61.7% [95% CI, 57.9%-65.4%]; P = .01) expressed greater concern on the topic than participants aged between 65 and 101 (53.4% [95% CI, 50.9%-55.9%]; P < .001), men (54.1% [95% CI, 51.5%-56.8%]; P = .005), moderates (56.4% [95% CI, 53.8%-59.0%]; P < .001) and conservatives (51.4% [95% CI, 48.0%-54.9%]; P = .03), and residents of metropolitan areas (55.9% [95% CI, 53.9%-57.8%]).
Although percentages of concern for prescription medication costs differed by gender, Hispanic ethnicity, US Census region, and political ideology, more than half of older adults in nearly all demographic groups reported being very concerned about the costs of medical care and prescription drugs.
The complete top 10 list of health-related concerns ranked as followed: cost of home care, assisted living, or nursing home care (56%); cost of medical care (56%); cost of prescription medications (54%); financial scams and fraud (53%); cost of health insurance and Medicare (52%); cost of dental care (45%); access to quality home care, assisted living, or nursing home care (38%); health care quality (34%); inaccurate or misleading health information (33%); and access to affordable healthy foods (32%).
A separate 2024 national survey conducted by KFF corroborated investigators’ findings, revealing that 73% of adults—a substantial majority—expressed being very or somewhat concerned about the cost of health care.2
Current study results could have important implications for the upcoming November 2024 election, as voters, particularly older adults with increased health care needs, are often motivated by health and health care policies.
“It’s important for candidates for president, the US House and Senate, and state offices to be well-informed about the top concerns of older voters,” said John Z. Ayanian, MD, MPP, lead study author and director of IHPI, in a news release.3 “There have been efforts in recent years to reduce costs of some types of care for older adults, especially those enrolled in Medicare, but these findings suggest a strong interest in more action across the political spectrum and various demographic groups.”
READ MORE: Public Health Resource Center
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