Our Country’s Medicare Crisis
Aging: an inevitable process that is happening to each and every one of us as we are reading this very sentence. There is no way to stop the march of time, but there are definitely many actions our country and our government could be taking to help care for those who are elderly and of age, especially those with serious illnesses.
I want you to take a second and imagine your loved one, 65 years old and suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease or one of the many other common forms of dementia. This is an around the clock disease that requires 24/7 watch, and your loved one is on Medicare — which sadly barely scratches the surface of what adequate support and care should look like. This is dolefully the reality for the approximately 5.8 million Americans suffering from Alzheimer’ disease and dementia.
This lack of acceptable and accessible healthcare within the Alzheimer’s community is manifested in many ways. For instance, one woman who was 55 years old and was on Medicare, was denied hospice care three separate times in the last year of her life for the sole reason that she was able to continually walk, and when diagnosed with dementia, if ambulatory, hospice is off the table. Her daughter showed the extremity of the illness with personal food logs, but it was too late; she died nine days after she was approved.
Another woman was a resident of an overworked and derelict dementia ward, and she forgot how to brush her own teeth but dental care was not provided under her Medicare plan. The workers in this less than sufficient dementia ward did not help her with this, and she therefore suffered from extreme gingivitis and continued to suffer in pain and with diseased gums until she passed away. I could continue to tell you horror story after horror story of everyday American citizens being wrongfully treated and cared for under the current US Medicare system, but that would turn this short article into an entire anthology of books.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, every 65 seconds an American citizen is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, and the death rate associated with this disease has increased by a whopping 145% from 2000 to 2017. The Alzheimer’s Association has also claimed that in 2019 Alzheimer’s cost the United States 290 billion dollars, and by 2050 this number is expected to increase to 1.1 trillion. With the intricacy of care patients with dementia or Alzheimer’s require, this disease is beginning to cause a national healthcare crisis, and it cannot be ignored any longer by the US government or spotlight politicians.
Our aging citizens who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia are not being properly covered and taken care of under the current Medicare legislation, and drastic reformation is needed.
Under Medicare right now, Alzheimer’s patients are eligible for only 100 days of in-home skilled nursing care. Alzheimer’s is not a 100 day disease. It is a grueling and long-lasting process that can span anywhere from 2-20 years. Much more than 100 days if you ask me. Patients are also eligible for in-home or inpatient hospice care if and only if they have been determined by a doctor to be near the end of life. This is ridiculous and inhumane. Under current Medicare, patients can also have some of their hospital and doctor appointments, and sometimes medications covered, but again, it barely scratches the surface of what is adequately considered “care.”
This is a huge step for those in the Alzheimer’s community, but there is still so much to be done for those who are fighting the ticking clock of time.
This Medicare coverage is extremely inadequate, but it is even more dire for people who face early-onset of Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Being diagnosed typically before the age of 50 but experiencing the same exact symptoms, and sometimes even more aggressive forms of common symptoms, these people do not qualify for Medicare—causing them to have even less coverage and care when it comes to medication, caregivers, and doctors’ visits. In Congress right now, a new piece of legislation has been introduced. It is titled the “Younger-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease Act,” and it would allow people under the age of 60 diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia to receive the benefits of programs and aid directed towards those with the disease. This is a huge step for those in the Alzheimer’s community, but there is still so much to be done for those who are fighting the ticking clock of time.
Our government needs to reassess and reallocate more funding towards our country’s current Medicare and healthcare programs, because as of right now, it is ineffective and inept. With the popular call for healthcare reform in the upcoming 2020 presidential election, what needs to come is major improvement of Medicare and how it aids those of age who suffer from extreme and incurable diseases. By ignoring this issue and brushing it under the rug, as many of our incumbent politicians are doing right now, we are essentially leaving our own citizens behind to die.