tend the life expectancy in the U.S., the ongoing financial implications must also be considered. Before the medical breakthroughs that will ensure that elderly people remain healthy for almost all of their lives, the majority of the elderly are unable to reverse their increasing susceptibility to various diseases with increasing age. Therefore, the increase in the life expectancy now and in the immediate future will produce a population of older people who are in need of health care services for various types of chronic diseases such as arthritis, ParkinsonÆs disease and diabetes. The impact of this rising number of the elderly population will lead to a massive increase in health care costs in the future (The Institute for Research on Women and Gender 7).
In the remainder of this paper, the financial implications of the advances in medical research and procedures and the concomitant extension of the life expectancy will be examined from several perspectives. These perspectives will thus illuminate the complexity and the immensity of the negative outcomes of medical research that will have dire financial costs for the future generations of the U.S. The financial costs of medical research and procedures, which extend life expectancy, include: a) financing of medical research and procedures, along with their implementation; b) government/public financing of elderly through Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; c) financing of care for the elderly by the caregivers; d) financing the elderly themselves, with special focus on women and minorities who risk impoverishment in the later years of their lives. Finally, a balanced computation of the financial impact medical research on life expectancy will be produced by using the time-until-death model, which will illuminate the financial burden that will be imposed on American society, in spite of the positive health benefits of medical research and procedures.
Financial Costs of...