Economic Security
Explore the financial challenges of aging and the policies needed to ensure economic security for older adults.
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Feelings Meet Facts: What We See When We Overlay Our Gallup Survey on the City Checkup
Nearly one in four U.S. workers, about 23 million people, say they're staying in a job they want to leave because they're afraid of losing their health insurance.1 Researchers call this job lock, and according to new research from our West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America, it's risen eight percentage points since 2021.1,2 That's a feeling, captured the way we capture feelings through ...
America's Cities Just Got a Checkup
Today, 789 American cities took the same checkup. Not one earned an A. West Health graded all of them, A+ to F, across seven dimensions of daily life: financial security, infrastructure, mental and behavioral health, physical environment, physical health, safety, and social connection. Rockville, Maryland earned the best report card in the country, a B+. Memphis, Tennessee ranked 789th out of 789....
American Exceptionalism: Why U.S. drug prices are the highest in the world
Americans pay substantially more for prescription drugs than people in other high-income countries, often three to four times as much, even though they use fewer medications and have worse overall health outcomes. This gap has been known for decades, but policy efforts have not significantly reduced prices. The problem is rooted in the structure of the U.S. healthcare system rather than difference...
Key Challenges Women Face that Impact Their Financial Security
Planning for retirement is difficult at any age, but it can be especially challenging for women ages 50 to 64, who are often juggling work, caregiving responsibilities, and rising health expenses associated with an increase in health care needs. These years are also often women’s peak earning years, making this period a critical window to build savings and strengthen financial security. Elder Inde...
Safety Net Programs Don’t Keep Up with Older Adults’ Actual Costs of Living
The infographic below illustrates how the income eligibility limits for several major safety net programs compare with the actual cost of living for older adults. While these programs provide critical support for those with the lowest incomes, many older adults who are struggling financially fall outside eligibility thresholds and are unable to access assistance.Key Takeaways• The cost of living i...
America: An Aging Nation
The infographic below illustrates how quickly the nation’s age balance is changing — and how that change is already playing out across states. It also pairs demographic projections with survey data capturing how older adults themselves feel about aging. Together, these insights highlight both the scale of the transition and the lived experience behind the numbers.Key TakeawaysBy 2030, older adults...
Reform Check: Are Rebate Aggregators Changing How PBMs Do Business?
Over the last decade, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have become highly consolidated and vertically integrated, playing a central role in negotiating drug rebates on behalf of health plans. In recent years, however, PBMs have increasingly shifted this function to newly created entities known as rebate aggregators. Launched by the three largest PBMs, these aggregators now negotiate billions of do...
Older Adults Without Medicare: Uninsured Seniors and Coverage Gaps
Medicare provides near-universal coverage for adults aged 65 and over in the United States, accounting for $624 billion in personal health care spending for this age group in 2020. Yet older adults still paid $165 billion out of pocket for personal health care in 2020. Some of this out-of-pocket spending was by the 31% of older adults who have Medicare coverage only and must fill in its coverage g...
Executive Summary | Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reforms: Can Congress Fix the Market Without Breaking It?
Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) play a central role in determining access and spending for prescription drugs in the United States. PBMs earn revenues from negotiating price and payment concessions from the prescription drug supply chain — pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies — on behalf of health plans. This arrangement encourages them to control prescription drug prices and spending but has ...
Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reforms: Can Congress Fix the Market Without Breaking It?
IntroductionPharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) play a central role in determining access and spending for prescription drugs in the United States. PBMs earn revenues from negotiating price and payment concessions from pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies on behalf of health plans. This arrangement encourages them to control prescription drug prices and spending, but has recently become controvers...