NATIONAL SURVEYS AND THE HEALTH AND FUNCTIONING OF THE ELDERLY - THE EFFECTS OF DESIGN AND CONTENT

The rapid growth of the U.S. elderly (age 65+) and oldest-old (age 85+) populations, combined with their high per capita acute health and long-term care (LTC) service needs, raises concerns about existing health care payment systems. Adapting and designing new types of health insurance and existing health policies require accurate data on the elderly's health and functional characteristics. Strengths and weaknesses of five national health surveys in providing such data are evaluated. Methodological issues arising in surveying elderly populations and analyzing data from those surveys are discussed, with implications for designing private LTC insurance and for reducing future LTC service burden.