When Medicare was enacted, it was intended to serve as the foundation of the health care system for seniors and people with disabilities. For years it was seen as a highly successful program that saved the elderly and disabled from financial disaster. Many, if not most people continue to believe in the promise of Medicare. But this is a fallacy, writes Jane Gross, whose opinion piece, How Medicare Fails the Elderly appeared in the Oct 15, 2011, New York Times.
"Here is the dirty little secret of health care in America for the elderly, the one group we all assume has universal coverage thanks to the 1965 Medicare law: what Medicare paid for then is no longer what recipients need or want today,” Gross writes. This change, suggests the author, is a result of advances in medicine that now keep people alive well beyond what was considered a normal life span in the 1960’s. Today, much of the care Medicare is mandated to provide does little if anything to cure illness and improve the quality of life of seniors in America. Medicare will pay for “heroic” care for a senior dying from the natural process of aging. It will pay for diagnostic tests, surgery, and emergency room treatment. But what it won’t pay for is what most seniors need; long-term care in a safe and well-run facility, and/or home aides and caregivers to help with the tasks of daily living. “These expenses are left to the elderly (and their adult children) to pay for out of pocket until their pockets are all but empty,” says Ms. Gross.
Ms. Gross proposes that the “mismatch between what is covered and what is useful” is the “essential flaw” in the way Medicare operates today. Today there are 47 million Medicare recipients, a number expected to rise to 89 million by 2050. Legislative action is needed now, says Jane Gross. Otherwise the health care future for our seniors is bleak. To read the full article by Jane Gross go to: NYT Article
I-1163 is an $80 million initiative which asks the state to further cut programs for children, health care, Medicaid, education and the elderly to provide funds for unnecessary and poorly designed additional caregiver training, plus background checks. Contrary to proponent claims, mandatory criminal background checks and caregiver training already exist. Further, the law underlying I-1063 (I-1029, passed by the voters in 2008) is already slated to go into effect in 2014, when Washington just might be able to afford it.
But don’t take our word for it. Governor Christine Gregoire, Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna, the Alzheimer's Association, as well as virtually every editorial board across the state has come out strongly against I-1163 as too costly.
The Seattle Times
The Tacoma News Tribune
The Spokane Spokesman Review
The Olympia Olympian
The Everett Herald
The only way to pay for I-1163 without further devastation to state services is to raise taxes. The Legislature is already scheduled for a special session to deal with an additional $2.8 billion shortfall.
"Our state is in a deep enough hole. The voters need to take the shovel out of SEIU's hands," Cindi Laws, chairwoman of People Protecting Our Seniors — NO 1163, said in a statement. The “NO” campaign is backed by a coalition of groups including the Washington State Residential Care Council, the Washington Private Duty Association of which our CEO, David Lawrence, is president, and the Home Care Association of Washington.
To read the arguments against I-1163 put out by the “No 1163” campaign, go to: No 1163.
Caregiver Profile: Linda Gallegos
Linda Gallegos knows what it feels like to be a member of a family caring for a loved one. A number of years ago she lost five people close to her within a 14 month period, including her mother and her best friend. While her sister took care of their mother, Linda left nursing school, where she was studying for her LPN, to devote herself to caring for her friend who was dying of cancer. It was this experience, plus a desire to work in health care and the need for a job, that brought Linda to a job fair almost four years ago. Family Resource had a booth set up, and after speaking with Human Resource Director Lorri Howe, Linda was impressed with the quality of the services and staff at FRHC. She has been with us for almost four years now.
Earlier in her career Linda worked in the medical insurance field and is much happier to be providing direct service to clients. “It’s gratifying for me, I like it a lot,” said Linda. “I enjoy the variety of having many different clients and I really like working with and helping the entire family. It’s very difficult for adult children of aging parents,” she continued. “They can’t always be there for their parent and they need to be able to count on someone who is responsible and capable. When they know that their parent will be well taken care of, it takes a weight off of their shoulders and they can feel peace of mind.”
Linda currently works with four clients. “I give them companionship and the care that they need, and I also try to make them feel important. I want them to feel like they are still an important member of society,” she says. “Often a senior may feel lonely and feel that there is not much to live for. I want my clients to know that they matter, and that their lives have value.”
Linda is a single mom of seven, with three still living at home. One of her children has special needs. She knows firsthand how hard it is to manage everything alone and for this reason has particular compassion for the families of our clients. “We all need help sometimes,” said Linda, “and it is gratifying to me to be able to help my clients and their families."
