I have been considering the impact of an aging population on our health care system and our ability to provide adequate housing for the elderly.
At the age of 73, I am the youngest child in my family. I am entering the age where the level of health care I require is increasing rapidly. Thankfully, I have adequate insurance and the financial resources to not place a burden on others.
My 92-year-old sister who lives in a Medicaid-subsidized memory care unit of an assisted living facility suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. She lives in Ohio where her housing costs amount to ~$8,000/month.
A single mother of three girls, she was unable to adequately save for retirement. About 20 years ago, our family began to provide the financial support she needed to live a comfortable life.
In 2024, that burden became too great as she exhausted her funds and Medicaid stepped in.
I also have a 91-year-old brother who is in the final stages of his battle with multiple myeloma. He and his wife suffer from a multitude of medical issues and they both lack mental competency. They also live in the memory care section of a local assisted living facility, which costs over $20,000/monthly.
They also pay substantial amounts for medical care that their insurance will not cover. After selling their house, they have adequate resources to fund these expenses.
Our family is fortunate because we have worked hard, saved and invested so that we can be self-sufficient in the final years of our lives. I fear many, possibly most, Americans lack the savings to cover their living and medical costs when they reach the final stages of their lives.
I recently had lunch with a large group of my high school friends. I was shocked to discover that several of them did not adequately save for retirement and are now living off of Social Security and a reverse mortgage.
If they live to be old enough to require assisted living, they undoubtedly will lack the resources to fund their living costs and will have to rely on Medicaid or some other government-subsidized program.
There always have been elderly people who are in this position, but now Baby Boomers are entering this phase of life in unprecedented numbers.
According to information provided by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, about 20% of the homeless population is over the age of 55.
Other organizations estimate that those over the age of 50 now account for nearly half of single homeless adults and they are the fastest-growing age group facing homelessness. Much of this is attributable to having a fixed income that does not keep pace with inflation.
I suspect that this phenomenon will accelerate over the ensuing decade.
Unfortunately, America is not prepared to handle the ensuing crisis. There are no easy answers and we know that politicians would rather argue about the state of the reflecting pools than address substantive issues that are costly and challenging to deal with.
We simply cannot afford to be distracted by this relatively inconsequential stuff.
Solving this problem is a quintessential American challenge. We can meet that challenge, but the sooner we start, the better the result.
We are presented with an opportunity to improve elderly lifestyles for generations to come. Here are some things we should be considering:
• Implement artificial intelligence technology, and possibly robotics, to allow the elderly to remain in their homes for longer periods. The technology is not here yet, but probably will be when the biggest wave of Baby Boomers require assistance.
• Devise alternative housing strategies. In the old days, Grandma lived with her children until she passed away. This was burdensome, but with the implementation of new technology, multigenerational households may become increasingly feasible.
• Expand adult day care centers. This will help facilitate multigenerational households when the younger generation has to work.
• Subsidize care workers. There is a shortage of home care workers because they are poorly paid. Consequently, many of these workers are not properly trained to take care of the elderly. These workers need specialized training and higher wages. The challenge is to identify how this will be paid for. Perhaps this is an area where AI can reduce costs.
These are just a few preliminary ideas to consider. You may disagree with these ideas and you may have better ideas, but we need to get the discussion started now so that effective solutions can be implemented when we need them.
Jim de Bree is a Valencia resident.
