 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
A.K. Nandakumar, PhD, International Health Area, Abt Associates Inc., 4800 Montgomery Lane, Suite 600, Bethesda, MD 20815, 301-718-3115, A.K._Nandakumar@abtasoc.com and Andrew Mason, PhD, Program on Population, East West Center, Department of Economics, Social Sciences Bldg, Room 543, 2424 Maile Way, Honolulu, HI 96822.
By 2050, the number of people aged 60 and over will increase by 1.5 billion and more than 70% will be living in developing countries. The accompanying increase in health expenditures will put severe pressure on public finances. However, the proportion of health expenditures in developing countries spent on the aged has not been well measured. Nor is there a tested methodology for projecting future levels of health expenditures on the elderly. Such information is valuable to make policy decisions. This session will present the methodology and results of parallel studies done in Jordan and the Philippines to estimate health expenditures on older persons for a base year and forecasting health expenditures to 2020. The expenditure analysis was done using the National Health Accounts framework. In 1998, older persons represented 8% of the total population in Jordan, but 25.7% of total health expenditures. In the Philippines in 1994, older persons represented 5.5% of the total population, but 19.6% of total health expenditures. These results confirm that elder health is more expensive per capita than the general population but the disparity is not as high as in OECD countries. Slightly different forecasting methodologies were developed reflecting the different types of data available in each country. Both countries face major policy issues and opportunities to balance public financing elder and other types of health care.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Aging, Healthcare Costs
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.