The elderly in five nations: The importance of universal coverage

This paper reports 1999 survey results on the population age sixty-five and older in five nations-Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The majority of respondents were generally satisfied with the quality, affordability, and availability of health services in th eir nations. In many measures of access to and cost of care, the United Sta tes looks much like the other nations surveyed. However, as the elderly vie w their health systems, the direction they have taken in recent years with respect to caring for the elderly, and the future affordability of care in old age, U.S. respondents tended to be more pessimistic than were those in other nations.