One key facet of many drugs is that they not solely assist folks really feel higher, however usually these drugs will help them re-enter the workforce, work extra hours, work extra productively, or the entire above. Nevertheless, when evaluating new therapies for illnesses that influence older Medicare beneficiaries (≥65 years), ought to we take note of productiveness impacts?
The primary query to ask is, what share of people aged ≥65 years are literally within the labor drive. Knowledge kind the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) finds that 26.6% of people age 65-74 and eight.2% of people
≥75 years are within the labor drive. Knowledge from the Medicare Present Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) finds that “7.5 p.c of beneficiaries had been enrolled in Half A solely, which incorporates folks 65 and over who’re nonetheless employed and could also be coated by employer sponsored insurance coverage (ESI).”
Medicare beneficiaries additionally earn important earnings. The median earnings for Medicare beneficiaries is $36,000 general and $37,800 or Medicare beneficiaries aged ≥65 years. These figures, nevertheless, embrace earnings from all sources (e.g., investments, Social Safety) along with wage earnings.
Many research don’t think about the influence of recent medicines on non-market labor resembling volunteering. Nevertheless, a examine by Grinshteyn and Sugar (2021) makes use of 2008-2018 Well being and Retirement Examine (HRS) knowledge discovered that amongst older Individuals 33.2% had volunteered previously yr.
Briefly, whereas the productiveness impacts for older people are doubtless much less then for working age people, they shouldn’t be ignored totally.
What are the potential productivity impacts of new medications that treat Medicare beneficiaries?
