An necessary facet of many medicines is that they not solely assist individuals really feel higher, however typically these medicines may also help them get again to work, work longer hours, work extra productively, or all the above. Nevertheless, when evaluating new therapies for illnesses that have an effect on older Medicare beneficiaries (age ≥65), ought to we think about the impression on productiveness?

The primary query to ask is what quantity of individuals aged 65 and over are literally within the labor drive. Information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) present that 26.6% of individuals aged 65-74 and eight.2% of individuals aged 65-74 are within the labor drive.
These ≥75 years of age are within the labor drive. Information from the Medicare Present Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) present that “7.5 p.c of beneficiaries had been enrolled in Half A solely, which incorporates individuals 65 years of age and older who’re nonetheless employed and could also be lined by employer-sponsored insurance coverage (ESI).”

Medicare beneficiaries additionally earn a major quantity of revenue. The median revenue for Medicare beneficiaries is $36,000 complete and $37,800 for Medicare beneficiaries ≥ 65 years of age. Nevertheless, these figures embrace revenue from all sources (e.g., investments, Social Safety) along with wage revenue.

Many research don’t think about the impression of latest medicine on non-market labor, reminiscent of volunteering. Nevertheless, a examine by Grinshteyn and Sugar (2021) makes use of information from the 2008-2018 Well being and Retirement Examine (HRS) and located that amongst older People, 33.2% had achieved volunteer work up to now 12 months.

Briefly, though the impression on productiveness of older individuals is more likely to be smaller than that of working-age individuals, this impression shouldn’t be fully ignored.