Martha Stewart shares her cargiving experience as well as a plea for the Health Care Bill to include support for the growing elderly population





As the health care bill winds its way through Congress, sparking passions, heated debate and countless news stories, I have been struck by the dearth of discussion about a looming health care crisis: In 2011, the first of 78 million baby boomers will start turning 65. We, as a nation, are utterly unprepared for this rapidly approaching "silver tsunami." We do not have enough doctors skilled in the care of the very demographic group with the greatest overall health care needs. And we do not provide proper support for the more than 48 million men and women who, according to a recent report from the National Alliance for Caregiving, are caring for older family members and friends.

Our population is growing older and living longer. Life expectancy in the United States is at an all-time high of nearly 78 years. The oldest old, those who are age 85 and over, are the fastest growing segment of the population. Yet very few doctors are trained in the care of the elderly. Do you know that there is currently one geriatrician to every 10,000 baby boomers? There are about three times as many cosmetic surgeons, a fact that speaks volumes about how we view aging in this country.

With the increase in the elderly population comes a concomitant increase in informal caregivers. Because around-the-clock home care runs as high as $150,000 per year (not including rent or food) and, depending on where you live, residence in an assisted living facility can easily cost $4,000 per month (none of which is covered by Medicare), more than 75 percent of Americans receiving long-term care rely solely on family and friends to provide assistance. The vast majority of these caregivers are women, most of whom devote an average of 19 hours a week to their caregiving role, often while also holding down a paying job. Many are caring for young children and their aging parents at the same time. And many more, surveys show, have used all of their savings or cut back on their own health care spending in order to cover the cost of caregiving for their relative.

I come to these issues as the daughter of a woman who lived to the age of 93. My mother remained actively engaged in life and healthy nearly to the end. Still, we came to know first-hand some of the issues that need to be managed and the constant worry that shadows every day. What if she falls? What if she takes her medicine twice or, as was more likely with my mother, what if she decides not to take them at all?


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