The Aging Boomers and Health Trends

Health care has been in the news a lot lately. President Obama had made it one of the rallying cries during his campaign and we are poised, it seems, to tackle that issue very soon now that the stimulus bill has passed. Tomorrow, he will address both houses of Congress and I will bet you that health care will be high on the list of the things he talks about.
Why is health care such a hot potato? Because it is a large part of the nation's budget and it's a large part of every household budget. And it promises to get bigger. Not only are we faced with dealing with people who currently have no insurance because of the job market, but the health demographics of this nation are about to change in ways we have never seen before.
Like it or not [and they don't], the Baby Boomers are aging. They are approaching retirement and that phase of life when health costs increase. Couple that with a system that no longer works and we have a problem that definitely needs to be addressed.
President Obama wants to computerize medical records in an effort to drive down costs and make health information more useable, decrease errors, and improve care.
That's a good start but I think we need to do more. Life expectancy is going to go up. The looming nursing shortage has to be tackled - now, before we're in trouble, not after. We need to encourage doctors to specialize in the field of geriatrics [The Gerontological Society of America (2008, April 25). Baby Boomer Health Care Crisis ]. But the need goes beyond that - nursing assistants, social workers, nursing homes, assisted living centers, agencies that offer oversight for meals and care - all of this needs to be revamped as the largest generation ever seen marches slowly into older life. It might seem to be an overwhelming problem but not if we start now.