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Ingalill Rahm Hallberg

Ingalill Rahm Hallberg

Professor emerita

Ingalill Rahm Hallberg

Older people's views on how to finance increasing health-care costs

Author

  • Elisabet Werntoft
  • Ingalill Rahm Hallberg
  • Sölve Elmståhl
  • Anna-Karin Edberg

Summary, in English

The aims of this paper are to investigate both older people's views about ways In which to finance health-care costs and their willingness to pay for treatment themselves, along with variations in these views by age and gender. The data are from the Good Ageing in Sk (a) over circle ne (GAS) prospective longitudinal cohort study in Sweden, which involved medical examinations and a survey of living arrangements and socio-economic conditions. For the analysis reported in this Paper, 930 GAS respondents aged 60-93 years were invited to participate in an additional structured interview, and 902 (97%) accepted. The sample was divided into the 'young-old' (aged 60-72 years), 'old-old' (78-84 years) and 'oldest-old' (87-93 years). It was found that the participants recommended increasing health-care funding by higher taxes and that they were willing to pay themselves for specific treatments, e.g. cosmetic surgery and medication to combat impotence and obesity. Many were also willing to pay privately for cataract surgery, to shorten the wait, although the respondent's financial circumstances associated with this willingness. Significantly more men than women, and of the 'young-old' than of the other two age groups, would pay for cataract Surgery. The views of people aged 85 or more years differed from those of the young-old, e.g. significantly fewer believed that older people's health care received too little resource. Views about how to finance health care thus differed among the age groups and between men and women.

Department/s

  • Department of Health Sciences
  • Geriatric Medicine

Publishing year

2006

Language

English

Pages

497-514

Publication/Series

Ageing & Society

Volume

26

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Topic

  • Gerontology, specializing in Medical and Health Sciences

Keywords

  • allocation
  • older people
  • gender differences
  • health-care rationing
  • resource

Status

Published

Research group

  • Geriatric Medicine

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0144-686X