Social disparities in oral health and health care for older adults

Abstract

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, approximately 12.4% of the U.S. population or 35 million Americans were 65 years of age or older (Hetzel and Smith, 2001; Gist and Hetzel, 2004). Of these, approximately 17% were minorities (Table 3.1). Even though social security represents the main source of income for many older people (He et al., 2005), 9% of individuals 65 years of age or older live below the poverty level. Blacks (24%) and Hispanics (20%) exhibited the highest percentages among racial/ethnic groups of older adults living below the poverty level (Table 3.1). Finally, although the vast majority of older adults have health insurance coverage, there is variation in their coverage with 63.1% having Medicare and additional private insurance, 7.6% having Medicare and Medicaid, and 26.7% having Medicare only. This is important because oral health services are only covered underMedicaid and private health insurance at additional cost. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.