Advocates for Evidence-Based Health Policy Speakers
Social Security Saves Lives
Money can’t buy happiness; but it can keep you living. A new study demonstrates that by preventing poverty among senior citizens Social Security likely contributed to declines in mortality among Americans over age sixty-five.
Since its inception in 1940, the United States Social Security program has garnered interest among policy makers when comparing its benefits to its cost. According to recent Census data, this income support program has kept over forty percent of the US population aged 65 years or older out of poverty. Along with the creation of Medicare (the Federal program of health insurance for the elderly) in 1965, there has been a dramatic reduction in health disparities for the elderly. The unbridled costs of Social Security, however, has been credited by some to be one of the leading causes of growing debt in the United States pushing the nation to the brink of hitting the debt ceiling. Most researchers evaluating the Social Security program have focused on long range financial problems for the nation. Yet, Social Security’s effects on the health of the elderly have not been evaluated with the same scrutiny.
This study evaluated the potential effect that Social Security had on the mortality of Americans age 65 years and older. The hypothesis of the authors was that Social Security would have a positive impact on the health of this population after its beginning in 1935 and after legislated improvements in benefits during the mid-1960s and early 1970s. Data collected from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention provided age group-specific mortality rates between 1900 through 1996. The age groups were divided into 10-year age brackets (45-54, 55-64, 65-74, and 74 and older). Mortality data was grouped between five “eras”: (1) 1900-1939 (control group), (2) 1940-1954 (initiation of Social Security), (3) 1955-1969 (period of no substantial growth in Social Security benefits), (4) 1970-1984 (period of substantial growth in Social Security benefits), and (5) 1985-1996 (era of HIV with its dramatic effect on infectious disease mortality). Linear regression analyses were used to test for significance among differences in age-specific mortality rates among the various eras and between the age brackets.
The analyses suggested a marked deceleration in the rate of non-infectious disease mortality for both age groups 65 years and older compared with the two age groups younger than 65 years of age in both the 1940-1954 and 1970-1984 time periods compared with younger people in the same time periods. Although, all age groups had a decline in all-cause mortality rates after 1940, the 65-74 age bracket and the 75+ bracket had statistically significant rates of decline after 1940 compared to before 1940 (p=0.013 and p=0.0001, respectively). There was not a statistically significant rate of decline for the 45-54 year old and 55-64 year old brackets during the same time periods (p=.7988 and p=.2846, respectively). These data support the hypotheses that social security had a positive effect on the mortality rates for elderly Americans.
Commentary
Although correlation exists between the decline of mortality in the elderly population and the advent of the Social Security program, there are other undeniable variables that have also played a significant role during the last 70 years. These include improvements in modern medicine (e.g. organ transplantation, medications effective in treating high blood pressure and diabetes, and the creation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)). Access to these advances in medicine with Medicare undeniably contribute the health improvements of the elderly. Although many other factors contribute to the health of the elderly, it seems unbelievable that all these improvements would have been afforded to individuals living below the poverty line.
Social Security has kept many elderly individuals above the poverty line. It has been an effective tool allowing elderly individuals to afford the costs associated with healthy living and advanced medical technology. This study also provides substantial support that the advent and subsequent improvements of the Social Security program have had a positive impact on the elderly population’s decline in mortality. As the political winds continue to fluctuate on this critical program, perhaps the benefits of Social Security will not be overshadowed by its rising costs and threatened sustainability.
by
Tyree Winters, DO