Health care delivery and the elderly: teaching old patients new tricks

The author examines the revolutionary changes currently altering the delivery of health care in America: competition, corporatization, reprivatization, and cost containment. The changes portend a bleak future for elderly citizens, inevitably leading to inequities in access to high quality health care for this uniquely vulnerable group. Focusing on health care financing driven by a DRG system, the author raises ethical, economic nd legal issues which must be addressed by a responsible society. Finally, the author contrasts the traditional legal response to the elderly for protection of their right to equitable access to high quality health care and recommends changes to ensure fuller protection for elderly citizens.