The Importance of Medicaid Expansion among the Elderly

The Importance of Medicaid Expansion in Addressing the Health Issue of Increasing Cost of Pharmaceuticals among the Elderly
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The Importance of Medicaid Expansion in Addressing the Health Issue of Increasing Cost of Pharmaceuticals among the Elderly
Undeniably, there exist various gaps in the medical system in the United States of America (USA). Some of these well-known niches in the USA involves the high rate of uninsured and underinsured people, substandard quality of healthcare services, and the high cost of medicines.
Introduction
One of the primary gaps in the healthcare industry is the increasing costs of drugs, which is a problem that significantly affects older adults. In reality, individuals with chronic diseases spend more money to get the right medications. In other words, the efficiency of healthcare service provision for the elderly with long-term illnesses is highly affected by the high prices of medicines. In particular, efficiency can be perceived as productive or allocative. The productive aspect entails producing specific healthcare services at the lowest price (Goldsteen, Goldsteen, & Goldsteen, 2017). In contrast, allocative means attaining the high quality of medical services. For this reason, efficiency is the best gauge that can be used to evaluate different aspects of healthcare services. The paper focuses on how the rising cost of medicines affects the population of older adults. Aging people are one of the vulnerable populations, and they are the ones who use hospitals the most. These individuals are in the frontline when it comes to those who deserve preventive care and the management of their health.
Historical Background
The primary question that should be asked is: Is the gap of the surging price of medicines a problem of today or has it been there in the past?
For sure, the health problem of the increasing medication costs among the aging population is not new and has been there for several decades. Based on Candy Sagon's article, the chart shown depicts that there was an increase in the average price of brand name medicines from $4,896 to $5,807 between 2015 and 2016. Even though the figure shows annual measurements, it is clear that the cost of medications has been rising steadily from 2006 to 2015 (Sagon, n.d.). Moreover, the price of medicines continues to surge even today. A CNN article by Wayne Drash begins by asserting that “The prices of the 20 most commonly prescribed brand-name drugs for seniors have risen nearly 10 times more than the annual rate of inflation over the past five years, according to a congressional report released Monday” (Drash, 2018).
Socioeconomic Background
The socioeconomic background of a specific population has a significant influence on how people access healthcare services. The majority of individuals find themselves in a position of not affording medications because of socioeconomic factors. Some of these people who are highly affecting by the problem at hand are the elderly, uneducated, and those living in abject poverty. Individuals below the poverty line cannot afford medical insurance and they end rising the percentage of uninsured people in the USA. Older adults witho...