Abstract
Structural Ageism and the Health of Older Adults.
Highlights
Heightened risks of the novel coronavirus for older adults have been apparent from the earliest days of the pandemic.[1]
This systemic discrimination has a synergistic effect with internal ageism, or negative beliefs that individuals acquire about aging, on the health of older adults.[3]
Despite efforts to expand options for elderly individuals under the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid programs are mandated to cover nursing facility care but not home-based and community-based services, leading to variations in available resources for elderly individuals depending on the US state in which they live.[4]
Summary
Heightened risks of the novel coronavirus for older adults have been apparent from the earliest days of the pandemic.[1]. More than 40% of US fatalities have been residents and employees of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.[2] Strategies to mitigate infection in congregate settings have sought to fix deficiencies, including shortages of personal protective equipment and personnel. Despite efforts to expand options for elderly individuals under the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid programs are mandated to cover nursing facility care but not home-based and community-based services, leading to variations in available resources for elderly individuals depending on the US state in which they live.[4]. Regardless of whether older adults live at home or in nursing facilities, public funding for LTSS is insufficient.[5] Few US residents can afford out-of-pocket expenses for long-term care, and fewer (just 11% of adults older than 65 years) have private long-term care insurance. More ambitious yet potentially necessary approaches include overhauling the current public insurance system to more directly support long-term care or creating a separate, publicly supported program to finance long-term care, with the goal of equitably expanding access to LTSS coverage.[6]
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