Content area
Abstract
There is a looming population group poised to impact the US health care system with a voracious appetite for health care. The group has been dubbed the "silver tsunami" -- a name that their research shows first appeared in a 2002 paper by University of Nevada, Reno, professor Mary Finn Maples. Many in the industry have not fully grasped the consequences that will result from this demographic shift. In fact, their health care system is woefully unprepared to meet the needs of its soon-to-be patient base. In recent years, the cost of care per capita has taken center stage as costs have continued to grow even as wages have stagnated. In a 2012 Commonwealth Fund report "Explaining High Health Care Spending in the US: An International Comparison of Supply, Utilization, Prices, and Quality," David Squires found that higher prices and greater use of technology appear to be the main factors driving high rates of US spending rather than greater use of physician and hospital services.