Abstract:

The pressure of population aging on growth of health care spending is examined through cross-national analysis of health care data from 12 countries including the US. Cross-national comparisons of demographics & health care spending do not substantiate the claim that high or rapid population aging causes increases in health care spending, &, in fact, reveal that costs are not high in many countries experiencing such demographic shifts. Increases in the intensity & use rates of health services, health sector inflation, & general inflation appear to be more likely causal factors. It is concluded that the amount of heatlh care spending increases caused by population aging can be effectively controlled by national policies aimed at limiting health care to the elderly.