Older Adults Now Outnumber the World's Youngest Children for the First Time on Record
People 65 and older now outnumber children 5 and younger worldwide for the first time in recorded history, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report.
The U.S. is feeling this shift. By 2030, the youngest baby boomers will be 65, and the oldest will be nearing 85. A recent Fitch Ratings report on nonprofit hospitals warns this will create "a simultaneous surge in demand for advanced/additional care and a paucity of available skilled workers."
In addition to the challenges of older patients with more needs and a smaller labor force, other sources note concurrent pressures from inadequate reimbursements and less appetite among lawmakers to provide relief.
Chip Kahn, who led the Federation of American Hospitals for decades and is now a visiting senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, put the money problem this way: "Right now, it doesn't appear that anybody is going to ride in on a white horse to relieve the revenue pressure on hospitals that's coming from the Medicaid cuts, the retrenchment in ACA coverage and the aging population."
Why this matters:
Health systems building three-to-five-year plans are looking at rising demand from an older population, thinner payment for it, and little expectation of relief. That shapes where health systems are willing to spend.
Questions to Ask Your Health System Partners:
How are you planning to manage rising demand from older patients alongside the cost containment work already underway?
As your Medicare-eligible population grows, how does that change the payer mix assumptions in your financial planning, and what are you doing to keep that mix sustainable?
Given the growth in the 65-and-over share of your population, where in your service line portfolio are you feeling that shift most? Where do you expect to feel it next?