Oceania Gerontology/Aging

Gerontology, the study of the social, psychological, and biological aspects of aging, is a major focus in science and the healthcare profession. By 2030, it is estimated that the US population of people age 65 and over will double, making up over 20% or about 70 million of the country’s population. As the baby boomers enter the geriatric population, this has the potential to enormously escalate the nation’s already high health care costs.

As the population ages, there will be an increased need for medical services, while there is a shortage of physicians, nurses and allied health professionals trained to treat the elderly.

The U.S. population is undoubtedly aging and the impact of that is impossible to separate from the policy debate surrounding the future of Medicare, the government-run health insurance program for the 65-plus population. The explosion in the eligible population will drive Medicare into insolvency. The program is popular and cuts to benefits are politically untenable. Some of the options bandied about include means testing (making affluent seniors ineligible for the entitlement), raising the eligibility age to counter the coming boomer wave and finally implementation of stiffer cost-benefit evaluations and care rationing.