Journalistic elder abuse: it's time to get rid of fictions, get down to facts

The public debate on health care, as reported and carried on in the popular media, is frequently framed in terms of age. The assumption is that old age can be equated with high health care costs, and that increases in health care costs are determined solely by the growing numbers of older people in our society. A variety of studies suggest, however, that high-tech, high-cost care is not inevitably associated with advancing age. The public debate on health care must stop confusing demographic issues with health care cost issues, and focus instead on the real and complex problems of rising health care costs.