Healthcare costs hit older Americans

Elderly Americans are being hit hardest by rising healthcare costs, and doctors are beginning to refuse Medicare patients because the payments from the government do not cover the costs, the doctors say.

In the last two years US spending on health care rose by more than 8% each year (BMJ 2001;322:692). Medicare covers either fee-for-service care with a private doctor or membership in a health maintenance organisation for people aged over 65. But many older Americans were dropped when health …