Posted: 03/28/2009 08:29:54 PM EDT
With the first wave of baby boomers now into their 60s, the United States is getting grayer by the day.
Just how gray, you ask?
According to Dr. William Delaney, executive medical director of the Seifert and Ford Community Health Center of Danbury Hospital, 12 percent of Americans are 65 and older.
By 2035, Delaney said, the number of Americans age 65 and older will double.
Just as importantly -- and maybe, more importantly -- the number of workers paying into Social Security and Medicare will increase by only 17 percent, said Delaney.
The long-term health care system in this country can't possibly survive that imbalance, not without better funding, better staffing and a better business model.
What's more, doctors who practice geriatric medicine are becoming as rare as those Rockwellian images of house call bags. Geriatric nurses and health care workers aren't far behind.
Even with an extensive background in geriatric medicine, Delaney doesn't have a magic bullet to solve this impending health care crisis. But he's not about to stop looking for remedies.
Delaney has signed plenty of discharge papers for older patients who will ultimately wipe out their entire life savings for a bed, not a beach.
The money that was set aside for "the good life" has been earmarked for long-term health care, sometimes at $100 day -- and often more.....
Aging baby boomers get ready to squeeze savings, health care system - NewsTimes.com
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