Even With Medicare, U.S. Seniors Struggle With Health Care Costs
Researchers at The Commonwealth Fund recently surveyed older adults in 10 countries about how health care costs influenced their financial decisions.
The survey of adults 65 and older was conducted from Feb. 29 to June 20, 2024.
Their findings may not be too surprising: U.S. seniors struggle more with high health care costs than their counterparts living in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden or the U.K.
About 25% of U.S. seniors said they had at least $2,000 in out-of-pocket costs for health care last year. By comparison, fewer than 5% of those living in France or the Netherlands said the same.
People living in Switzerland were the only group that reported higher out-of-pocket spending than Americans.
What were the impacts:
- A third of the older American adults who faced cost-related barriers to medical care said they were in fair or poor health.
- Americans skipped needed care because of costs at a higher rate than older adults in other countries.
- 1 in 5 older adults in the U.S., Australia and Canada skipped needed dental care because of costs. By comparison, 5% or fewer older adults in the Netherlands and Germany went without dental care.
“This study highlights how vital Medicare is for older adults in the U.S., but it also underscores the challenge of affording needed care,” said Gretchen Jacobson, a Commonwealth Fund vice president. “Rising costs are forcing many older Americans to pay more out of pocket, leading to delayed care, poorer health and higher long-term spending.”
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