Diffiiculties of Elderly with Chronic Illness and Health Insurance

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Chronic illnesses and diseases are a huge problem for the elderly. Four out of five adults suffer from at least one chronic condition, which is 70 million Americans that are above the age of 50. Some of the chronic conditions that the elderly deal with include heart disease, respiratory diseases, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. The leading cause of death is heart disease, followed by respiratory diseases. Some things that you can do are to preventation of such diseases. 
Such illnesses can already be hard to deal with and manage at younger ages but when health insurance and old age come into play it becomes extraordinarily difficult. Not only do some worsen with age, and the ability to combat them is decreased, if an older person doesn’t have health insurance it is almost impossible to get them. Insurance companies know that they will have to pay a lot of money and consider the elderly with chronic diseases to be high risk and won’t support them. In addition to this, there are many elderly people who struggle with finances and lack the money to deal with expensive treatments or medications. This is a real issue with no good answer that falls through the cracks, as people don’t realize how important and big this is until they know someone who has gone through it or who has 

So are there any solutions? For some people, clinical trials or experimental treatments may be an option that lower or waive the cost. Another option may be health insurance through family members that extends to them. Finally, it’s important to figure out a total cost analysis of insurance to not just get something with the lowest premium but consider deductibles, medication costs, and doctor visit costs.


Sources: 
https://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/health/beyond_50_hcr_conditions.pdf

https://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-insurance/articles/2015-12-23/how-to-get-the-best-plan-when-you-have-a-chronic-illness
https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/older-adults
Location: 335 US-1, Hodgdon, ME 04730, USA

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