e-News from Older Dominion Partnership

Articles & Reports

ER Visits Increase -- by Patients with Insurance

ER visits in Hershey, Pa., are on the increase -- not because of greater numbers of uninsured but because many patients with insurance can't get a timely doctor's appointment. Some are employed, and others have Medicare. More older Americans are finding that doctors refuse to take on new Medicare patients because reimbursements are so low.

With the "gray tsunami" on the horizon -- Baby Boomers heading into retirement -- Dr. Christian Caicedo, a PinnacleHealth Systems emergency department physician, predicts the number of people going to the emergency room will be "staggering." Read more.

The million-dollar question: Is this happening in Virginia, too? Are Virginia hospitals ready?

The Highest Form of Flattery

One out of three inhabitants of Sarasota, Fla., is 65 or older, the highest percentage of any large county in the country -- and the percentage is climbing. Now Sarasota County Openly Plans for Excellence (SCOPE), a decade-old local think tank, is hiring a consulting firm to map out development of a planned Institute for the Ages.

"The thing about getting older is it deals with everything: Transportation, building design, health care, finance," said Tim Dutton, SCOPE's executive director. "So what [the consultants] will help us do, in part, is crystallize just what the institute would do." Read more.

Sometimes the ODP gets a little lonely being so far out front. We welcome Sarasota to the ranks of those who are taking a comprehensive approach to Age Wave planning.

We're All in It Together

Aging is the gift of life. No one wants a society where people die younger. But aging is expensive, and the cost to advanced economies like the United States' is extensive -- not just in unaffordable retirement programs but in slower economic growth. After surveying the global scene, the International Monetary Fund summarizes:

"In most rich countries the ratio of people of working age to those of retirement age will deteriorate dramatically over the next few decades. ... True, there will be fewer young people to maintain, but children cost less than old people and the overall burden will be much heavier than it is now. The OECD has estimated that over the next three decades the age-related decline in the labour force could cut growth in its member countries by a third compared with the previous three decades." Read more.

To pay for age-related entitlements such as Medicaid and programs to retrofit our communities for the Age Wave, Virginia needs a vibrant economy, and that means creating communities attractive to working age people. We can't neglect one demographic group for the other. We're all in this together.

Dishman Dishes about the Age Wave

The International Monetary Fund may view the aging of the world's population as fraught with peril (see story above) but Intel executive Eric Dishman regards it as a tremendous market opportunity. As director of health innovation and policy for the semiconductor giant, he devises products and strategies to improve care for the elderly population.

Money quote: "The President needs to put out a going-to-the-moon call for innovation that says, by 2015, a third of all care in the United States is done at home, and not in the institution. From a market opportunity standpoint, you're talking about 2 billion people on the planet age 60 and above halfway through this century. Somebody [in] Europe, or the U.S., or Japan is going to develop virtual care technologies, systems, services and know-how. They're going to use it for their own country, and then they're going to sell [it] to other nations. I sure would like the U.S. to reap the benefit of that." Read more.