The Impact Of Baby Boomers On Long-Term Care System

The challenge America now faces is the number of people reaching retirement will double in number by 2030, and the U.S. population will increase almost 20 percent ("Our Aging Nation," 2015). The goal is for the elderly to maintain and live with independence and dignity, as well as, provide a wide range of professional health and social service expertise, home care, and residential support and services that will be needed ("Our Aging Nation," 2015). Since the number of caregivers needed for this population will not be able to meet the demands other resolutions are considered necessary.

Current numbers show substantial growth from the eighties, and estimates suggest that the demand for long term care among the elderly will more than double in the next thirty years. (Feder, Komisar, and Niefeld) This growth will exacerbate concerns about balancing institutional and noninstitutional care, assuring quality of care, and most importantly adopting and sustaining financing mechanisms that equitably and adequately protect the elderly who need long-term care.

The baby-boomer generation is aging and adding more beneficiaries’ at an increasing rate than ever before and is estimated to impact the federal deficit by over 17% by 2020. Many other countries have National Healthcare that provides better care at a much lower cost. Medicare was the motivation for a universal healthcare plan and a program for the U.S. could have a positive impact. (Starr, 2011).

As this baby-boomer generation continues to age there will be profound effects on the way that money is spent on health care and insurance. With approximately 77 million people turning 65 over the next several years, the amount of government spending on Medicare will greatly increase (Gigante, 2012). Thus, the demand for medical care associated with the aging population will so

One dominant economic feature of the healthcare industry is the growing need for both basic and specialized healthcare due to the continued aging of the “Baby Boomer” generation. This generation consists of over 79,000,000 individuals born in the US between 1946 and 1964. As this generation has aged, the need for healthcare has increased dramatically. Let us take a look at some statistics:

Long-term care is vital in the United States health care system. As the population ages, more people will need assistance to recover from illness or injury, and others will need end of life care to ease their passing. People who use long-term care are all ages. From young to old, people can receive it if they cannot care for themselves because of a condition, an illness, or an injury that requires assistance for a period of 90 days or more. The concern people face when looking at long-term care is the funding. Medicaid will likely be drained of funds long before the country’s aging population is past its peak and while there are some options of insurance coverage, not everyone may afford them.

Long-term care healthcare delivery will be a great/popular option for many of these senior citizens. The long-term care healthcare delivery system falls within the continuum of care. The continuum of care is a series of heath care services that are provided to a great number of older adults who are in need of them throughout the course of their life/older life. The care ranges from: personal care, custodial care, restorative care, skill nursing care, and sub acute care (Shi & Singh, 2012). Different providers work together within the continuum to provide the right care to those in need. The continuum of care, as stated in Long Term Care: Managing Across the Continuum, is “comprehensive, integrated, and client-oriented”(Pratt, 2010). All the services offered should be client-based and cater to the client’s needs and suitable care. The client should be able to obtain services when it is needed from the provider, making it comprehensive. All the different long-term care providers should be interconnected between one another, because their goal is all the same, which is to care for the client’s needs. The continuum of care consists of: nursing facilities, sub acute care, assisted living, residential care, elderly housing, and a variety of community-based services (Pratt, 2010). All these different providers work together to care for the individuals within the health care industry, creating the continuum and making it integrated. As the future progresses and a great amount of

As the government’s role in public health remains, major changes have been put into effect, precisely dealing with long-term care. Before the 1930’s, providing care for the elderly was exclusively a local and state run industry. However, after the great depression, a growing demand was placed on providing some type of insurance for that population. The Social Security Act of 1935 was established to assist with “Federal old-age benefits” and was signed into effect by President Roosevelt on August 15, 1935. (Home, 2015) Another major impact to long-term care has been the creation of Medicaid that went into effect in 1965 and was an amendment to the Social Security Act of 1935. “Title XIX of the Social Security Act is a federal and state entitlement program that pays for medical assistance for certain individuals and families with low incomes and resources” Medicaid is a collective effort between state and the government to help provide insurance for eligible citizens. Among those covered under this insurance, are the elderly, disabled and pregnant. Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical care. The new changes to Medicaid are ongoing and will be put into effect as part of Obamacare.

The necessity for long-term care is increasing which will require additional training and education for health care personnel, family members, and patients. Family members can have peace of mind knowing their family member will gain confidence in learning how to become accustomed to his or her new life while maintaining a quality continuum of care during and after treatment for physical, mental, or age associated illnesses.

Medicare is America’s largest health insurance program for the men and women over the age of 65 or with certain disabilities. For many Americans, this a huge part of how they can afford medications, doctor visits and other medical expenses. In recent years the number of Medicare enrollees has doubled (NASI, 2015). The “Baby Boomers”, people born from 1946-1965, is the largest generation within America with roughly 75 million Americans. This generation of Americans are all turning 65 around the same time and enrolling into this medical program. With the amount of new enrollees the total spending for Medicare will rise from 3.6% of the nations GDP to 5.1% by 2030, when the youngest of the baby boomer generation will be 65 (NASI, 2015). Even

The baby boomer generation will have tremendous impacts on health care as they continue to age and experience health issues. The impacts will show a significant financial difference in the very near future than what the impacts look like today for all health care organizations across the country. The baby boomer generation began between 1946 and 1964. Throughout the 18 year time span, over 76.4 million people were born. By 1964, this made up over 40 percent of the total US population. Today, this generation is between 53 and 73 years old and by 2020 there will be one and five people over the age of 65. As this time approaches and this generation becomes Medicare and

The objective of this study is to examine the evolution of programs and services for aging population over the last fifty years. Toward this end, this brief study will conduct a review of literature that addresses these shifts and changes in policy. The timeline of the history of the services and pogroms for the aging population in the United States is shown in the following timeline and an explanation for these develops will next follow the timeline.

Innovators like Joel Landau and others are converting under-utilized buildings in Brooklyn, Manhattan and elsewhere into senior care facilities. This comes at a time when Baby Boomers (who account for over a quarter of the U.S. population) are reaching retirement age. But for Mr. Landau, caring for the elderly has a more personal meaning; when as a teenager, he provided care to his beloved, ailing grandfather with linguistic and dietary needs. What began more than two decades ago has played a key role in shaping his vision of how healthcare and the environment can enhance the quality of life for Baby

Nine months after men were sent home after serving in World War II millions of babies were born all around the United States. This would be the beginning of the baby boomer era, it was any baby who was born anytime between 1946 and 1965. By the end of this period there were a total of about 76 million baby boomers in the United States. This made up about 40 percent of our entire nation. For decades, we have been worried about the retirement of those millions and millions of baby boomers and now the time has come. Every single month, about over a quarter of a million Americans are retiring at age 65 or even retiring early at age 62. These millions of retirees are entitled to social security, Medicaid and Medicare.

After four decades of failure to enact a universal healthcare program, advocates decided to refine their approach in the 1950s, and the strategy that ultimately led to the passage of Medicare and Medicaid was formulated. Wilbur Cohen and I.S. Falk recognized that a health insurance plan focused on Social Security beneficiaries would be much easier to sell than a plan for all Americans. By limiting its benefits to the elderly, Medicare could be portrayed as a program for people who met two important criteria: they had greater need for healthcare coverage and they were especially deserving of public assistance. Because of their age, seniors have relatively high medical costs--when Medicare was passed, average healthcare expenses for people sixty-five or older were twice the average expenses for younger persons. (Orentlicher, D. (2012).