Ch11

8. (p.324,326) Since the passage of Medicare in 1965, medical care spending for the elderly has increased. They uses a large amount of resources as they make up 12.6% of the population yet consume over a third of all medical resources. The reason that elderly people spend $5000 and young people spend $1000 is due to the fact that the elderly have more conditions that are chronic and require more medical visits. 9. (p.325-326) One of the main reasons for the increased medical spending by the elderly is due to longer life expectancies. With this come issues like higher costs of dying. As the population ages, they develop more health problems and consume more health care. While it might not be so much of a problem for people at the age of 65, this becomes a problem when looking at the elderly in their 80s and 90s – an occurrence happening more regularly due to modern medicine’s ability to keep them living longer. These elderly are more prone chronic conditions that lead to disability and the need for long term care. Long term care becomes expensive because many times it involves institutional care. The elderly must be attended to once they reach a certain age because of chronic conditions that make it hard for them to be independent. The 2 worst forms are hip fractures and dementia. 10. (p.330, 332) Medical malpractice law is designed to encourage physicians to act as responsible agents in the best interest of their patients. It serves 3 functions: compensation to reimburse for loss due to injury or life, deterrence to de-incentivize behavior that causes injury and encourage doctors to act as responsible agents, retribution to punish those guilty of negligent behavior. It is a big issue in the US compared to other countries. The US has the highest claims per 100,000 and also per 100,000 physicians. The US spends 2 to 3 times more on tort law disputes. There should be no difference in the negligence rule of liability in theory. It must be shown that the there was a duty of care and that the physician failed to provide the standard of care which caused damages to a patient. Punitive damages are rare in other countries and are often a large portion of awards in US. Also, contingency fee system is only used in US. Most other places, the loser pays all court costs and attorney fees, which is a deterrent for some cases. A high incident of malpractice suits may lead to defensive medicine, where physicians opt out for lower risk treatments instead of a high risk one that may work better because of the fear of being sued.