Study: Boomers To Alter Health Care
Sunday, 10 January 1999
S A N F R A N C I S C O (AP)
THE DEMANDING, cash-heavy and technology-savvy baby boomers who
have driven the retail market will do the same with an ever-restrictive
health care industry, inspiring customer-friendly services and an explosion
in medical advertising, researchers say.
Forecasting the impact of aging baby boomers that are starting to spend
more time at the doctors' office, analysts at the Institute for the Future, a
Menlo Park research group presenting their findings Monday, said this
generation - which has come to rely on brand names and flexible options
when they shop - will become increasingly vocal about what they want
from managed care.
"This new consumer is a pretty empowered person," said Wendy Everett,
director of a study commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation.
"They've got money, resources and the ability to make decisions that ten
years ago we just didn't have. That allows them to become much more
demanding, much more mobile when it comes to having health plans to
choose from."
The U.S. population of people age 65 and older has grown from about 25
million in 1980 to about 35 million today. It's projected to rise sharply
beginning in 2010, from 40 million that year to 70 million just 20 years
later, the report says.
An estimated 28 percent of the U.S. population is temporarily or
consistently uninsured. Another 34 percent have low job security and are
in managed care plans paid by employers who may not guarantee
retirement benefits or are trying to reduce them. The remaining 38 percent
are in more secure jobs with managed care or fee-for service plans.
Many members of these groups will have discretionary incomes of
$50,000 or more, at least a year of college under their belts and Internet
proficiency, the report says, making them a powerful market influence.
"For the first time in our country's history, the majority will have ... critical
thinking skills," Ms. Everett said.
Money - not legislative policy changes - is likely to do much of the talking
as employers pass onto baby boomers moving into their 50s more health
care costs, reducing their premium contributions and restricting the benefits
they offer, Ms. Everett said.
These "pushy baby boomers" will demand accountability: more benefits
security, flexibility and coverage in their plans, the report says.
Another likely result of baby boomers' skepticism is provider report cards
like those on health plans that are currently accessible to 10 to 15 percent
of all consumers. That number should increase, with about 50 percent of all
consumers being able to get information on plan quality by 2010 - with the
Internet key sources of their information - the report says.
"The market is pretty sensitive to supply and demand," Everett said. "It's
the stuff that the retail world has been doing forever. They're open on
Thursday night, they're open on the weekend. Health care has to do that.
Until 2010, when the first of the baby boomers hit 65, change will be
incremental. But after that, be prepared for a major consumer revolution,
Ms. Everett said.
"Pushy baby boomers are not willing to wait," she said. "If they don't get
what they want, they're going to walk to another provider. ... The health
plans that have figured out how to meet these consumers' wishes are gong
to be extremely successful." |
