National news

Institute of Medicine: Health system not ready for aging baby boomers

There are 78 million baby boomers in the United States. In three years, the oldest of them celebrate their 65th birthdays, and enter the age when they’ll need more and more medical care.

And health care is not ready for them.

According to a report released in April by the Institute of Medicine (IOM):

• Geriatrics care attracts fewer specialists, and experiences high turnover rates among direct-care workers: nurse aides, home health aides, and personal care aides.
• There is not enough training opportunities for geriatric medicine.
• Geriatric specialists are underpaid. The average geriatrician in the US earns $163,000 a year, while the average annual compensation for an internist is $175,000 (2005 figures).
• Medicare doesn’t pay for the kind of team care that many elderly patients need. The average 75-year-old has three conditions and four medications.

“The sheer number of older patients in the coming years will require trying new models for delivering health care and the commitment of greater financial resources,” said John W. Rowe, MD, professor of health policy and management, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, and chairman of the IOM committee that prepared the report.

“If our aging family members and friends are to live as robustly as they can and in the best health possible, we must have a work force of adequate size and competency to take care of them,” he said.

For information on the report, visit the IOM web site or download IOM’s report brief.

Where does the next president stand on health care?

Last spring, presidential candidates and their family members crisscrossed Oregon in search of voters. In Astoria, crowds flocking to see former President Bill Clinton, stumping for his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, had plenty of issues on their minds, from jobs to the environment to health care.

On that occasion, The Daily Astorian interviewed 33-year-old Ben Sandel. Once a high earner, since the “dot com” bubble burst, Sandel and his wife now live below the poverty line and face high medical bills. They are grateful their 2-year-old daughter is covered by the Oregon Health Plan, but worry about their future.

The next president and Congress will be responsible for addressing the health care reform that most Americans believe must happen.

What direction might health care reform take? Here are the health care statements from the campaigns:

• John McCain 2008
• Obama for America
• Ralph Nader for President in 2008 
• The Libertarian Party candidate, Rep. Bob Barr, does not mention health care on his campaign web site.  However, the Libertarian Party does address the issue on its web site.
• Former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) was nominated at the Green Party's nominating convention in July. The party’s health care stand is posted on its web site.
• The Alliance of Community Health Plans compares the positions of the presumptive Democratic and Republican candidates.

US Senate

• Jeff Merkley for Oregon
• Gordon Smith U.S. Senate

Oregon’s senior senator, Ron Wyden, is not up for election this year. However, his Healthy Americans Act is now working its way through the Senate. For information, see Sen. Wyden’s web site.

Oregon Health Forum is presenting a debate between surrogates for the two major-party presidential candidates. Differing Approaches to a National Crisis: Presidential Candidates' Health Care Plans Debated will be Wednesday, August 19, 9 a.m. at Multnomah Athletic Club. U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer will speak on Sen. Barack Obama's position, while the presenter of Sen. John McCain's position is State Rep. Ron Maurer (R-Grants Pass). For information, download a flyer. For updates,visit the Oregon Health Forum web site.