Sorry, No Room for Your Mom

Today's baby boomers start turning 85 in 2030, when it's projected that 8 million people over age 85 will be unable to care for themselves. Those boomers must have qualified, licensed caregivers monitoring their care. According to a recent national nursing home survey, there were 1.4 million residents' ages 65+ in nursing homes. At the same time, many states were reporting a reduction in the number of nursing homes. If the nation's nursing homes are today reportedly understaffed, where will we put 8 million people in 2030? There is no place for these people to go!

Home health care services that are safe and affordable are getting harder to find. Very simply, we have a growing elderly population being cared for by a diminishing number of available caregivers. Too many old to care for; too few young to provide that care. Why isn't the national media reporting on the inevitable Long-Term Care Storm that's looming on the horizon? Where's the outcry?

When an earthquake, hurricane or other act of God strikes, we read about the aftermath and the disaster relief. When catastrophic illness strikes, there is no adequate "disaster relief." There is no long-term care Coast Guard! It's hard to imagine that there's a rapidly growing STORM of financial and psychological devastation on the horizon… the need and the cost of long-term care . . . and nothing is being done about it! Again, where's the outcry?

A False Assumption

In a national survey, it was identified that most Americans assume that Medicare will cover long-term care expenses. It does not. Medicare does cover professional care but most LTC expenses are custodial expenses, not covered by Medicare. In order to receive government assistance with the cost of LTC, people must qualify for Medicaid (not Medicare), the federally subsidized state low-income health program. Over two-thirds of all LTC recipients currently use Medicaid to pay for their care. Unless the current system is changed, it's been predicted that Medicaid could collapse under the weight of 8 million baby boomers requiring long-term care services.

The tidal wave that drowns the Medicaid program will flood other budget priorities – education, defense, criminal justice, etc. The ripple effect will eventually devastate many other government programs. The enormity of the economic realities of LTC is so overwhelming to most of the baby boomer generation that the solution seems to be denial. Some of the misguided responses are; "It'll be my turn to become a ward of the state"; "I'll let the system take care of me for a change". It's an unpleasant and depressing topic that doesn't go away… just gets worse. It's easy to object and hard to face the thought of losing our independence. It takes an enormous amount of self-understanding and courage to admit "I'm afraid of being helpless and dependent." However, there is just no denying that one out of two over age 65 will require some type of assisted care before they pass away.

No Place for Mom

In my home state of Massachusetts, a Boston Globe article reported on "Nursing home patients put adrift." A Massachusetts law was passed that was designed to provide public comment on the closing or sale of nursing homes. The Globe article told a tragic story that should be a warning for everyone. A nursing home resident had been transferred from a long-term care facility to a local hospital for cancer treatments. Upon discharge from the hospital, she was told she couldn't return to her nursing home, as the facility would be closing its doors. Fortunately, the family found a bed for her in another facility, but much farther away. Regrettably, the patient passed away two months later. Can we assume the change in surroundings and caregivers took a horrible toll, possibly a women's life?

How would you have dealt with this issue if this woman was your mother? With all the problems our elected officials are facing these days, we hear no mention of the need and cost of long-term care for our nation's elders. We're not hearing about a growing shortage of nursing homes which gets worse every day. We're not reading there will be 8 million seniors with no place to spend their final years. Lastly, where is the outcry?

— Read Long-Term Care Cost Inflation Picks Up: Genworth, on ThinkAdvisor.

Allan Checkoway, RHU, is the principal at Disability Services Group, a Needham, Massachusetts-based benefits advisory firm, and the author of "I'm Disabled . . . Now What?" — a guide to the resources available for people whose lives have been impacted by changes in their overall health.