The aging of the U.S. population is a theme that we believe strongly in and the health care sector is really right in the bulls eye of this particular theme.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
People use so much more health care when they live longer.
Modern medicine has presented us with a Faustian bargain: Our aging bodies can bankrupt our children and grandchildren. We have run into the 'law of diminishing returns' in health care, where we are often doing more and more, with higher and higher technology, at more and more cost, for less and less benefit.
The biggest myth about aging is that we can't do anything about it. That it's a road to being decrepit, frail, and sick.
It is certainly true that as we grow older, our need for healthcare also grows. It is also true that those who have lived their lives in the most difficult circumstances and experienced the most exhausting and challenging work places need healthcare the most.
The key to the future in an aging society is not found in increasing just our life span; we need to increase our health span at the same time.
Our population is headed for a stable plateau, which means an aging population.
We are already seeing older people wanting greater choice in how, when and where they receive care.
And because of these programs like Medicare, Medicare prescription drugs, Social Security, we now have the healthiest and wealthiest group of senior citizens that the world has ever seen. This is a continuing commitment to that.
'Aging' has been bad ever since we figured out it led to dying.
The debate around the ageing population should, in my view, focus much more on how we grow the active, working population.