USA Today: Price of seniors' care to soar as boomers age

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-02-14-senior-charticle_N.htm?csp=34

The cost of caring for people 65 and older is skyrocketing. The U.S. and state governments spent $979 billion on senior benefits in 2007, up 35% from 2000 after adjusting for inflation. Population growth accounted for about a third of the spending increase. The Medicare prescription-drug benefit that started Jan. 1, 2006, accounted for a fifth of the change.

USA TODAY's Dennis Cauchon examines the trends.

Rapid growth in costs

The cost of the three big senior programs all grew faster than the rates of enrollment and inflation. The programs USA TODAY measured were:

•Social Security, which provides monthly checks to retirees.

•Medicare, which provides health care to seniors 65 and older.

•Medicaid, which pays for nursing homes and other long-term care for poor seniors.

For this analysis, USA TODAY excluded money spent by these programs on non-seniors, such as disabled people and children, to provide a more accurate estimate of the cost of benefits for seniors. Of the three programs, Medicare experienced the biggest growth, up 55% in average payments per senior from 2000 to 2007 after adjusting for inflation.

Seniors are the biggest government expense

The federal government spends more on seniors than on any other group or program. Last year, states paid $27 billion of the $979 billion in senior benefits, primarily for Medicaid payments to nursing homes.

FULL story at link.

[Rosemary2205]

1. daughters/daughter in laws - can no longer stay home and take care of the parents

it now takes 4 jobs to keep a roof over our heads. The caretakers who once took care of the older family members after they were too used up to work anymore now have no choice but to work at least a job and a half. Which means strangers, mostly paid for by the government raise our kids and care for mom and dad.

Sucks the big one if you ask me.

I don't want more government services. I want wages high enough so we can raise our own kids and care for our own aged parents/grandparents. The government services were created only because folks like Carlyle Group can't stand the thought of having $199 Gazillion instead of $200 Gazillion.

[blues90]

2. Well I guess as an old boomer i should save the money

and kill myself now . I suppose it's the boomer fault that healthcare has become an over priced rip off called the medical industrial complex .

Nothing personal here , but Reagan doubled what I paid in SS that was taken out of my checks for the last 27 years .

[aquart]

3. Isn't it nice how they're preparing the rationale

for letting us die?

[Greyhound]

5. The rationale is for turning over the last bit of treasure to wall street.

They'd never let you die, you're getting old and therefore voting more.

[blues90]

6. Yeah , they may as well sit us in a chair like Soylent green

Instead of a pill and a nice visual and sound track just put all the horror we have seen since bush stole office and we can pick up the gun and shoot ourselves or die of a heart attack .

What assholes , what about when they get old .

[bobbolink]

4. I"ve been blamed for so much for so many years, I just wish they'd give us the pills for

our exit, and be done with it.

Greedy bastards!

[lonestarnot]

7. Oh so they're going to charge more for parking wheelchairs in nursing home halls and feeding slop as

food substitute and never answering call lights because they're short staffed? or what?

[Bigmack]

8. Lemme see....

Fucking war is $11 billion a month... probably gonna be a couple of trillion. Military budget (including "Homeland Security" and Intelligence) is roughly half of the Budget.

Maybe we could save a couple of bucks there.

Naaaaahhh... none of the candidates are talking about that shit!

[lonestarnot]

9. Not one! Yell FIRE!