As with so many issues, there is a major gulf between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden when it comes to issues that directly affect older adults. Biden has proposed a long list of specific proposals. Trump has said remarkably little about what he’d do in a second term, and that silence extends to programs that affect seniors. [...]
President Trump’s newest White House pandemic adviser, Scott Atlas, reportedly is advocating for the strategy of building “herd immunity” to stop the spread of coronavirus. Atlas, who is a neuroradiologist and fellow at the Hoover Institution, would allow the virus to spread as widely and quickly as possible to build immunity in the overall population. Think of it as the [...]
OK, let’s get past all the jokes about aging Baby Boomers revisiting their youth and getting stoned. As the medical and recreational use of marijuana grows across the country, older adults are increasingly either smoking cannabis or taking it in the form of cannabidiol (CBD). Yet we know remarkably little about how CBD or its close relative tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) affects [...]
US District Judge Reed O’Connor’s Friday night decision to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act would damage the well-being of older adults, those 50-64 nearing Medicare, and frail elders and younger people with disabilities who are receiving long-term care benefits under Medicaid. Many lawyers believe the ruling is poorly reasoned and likely would be reversed on appeal. However, it [...]
It is easy—and dangerous—to create stereotypes of older adults. Just when you think you have a picture in your head of what a senior is, you realize how very different they are. To borrow a phrase: You’ve seen one older adult and, you’ve seen one older adult. The 50 million Americans over 65 are more economically and racially diverse than [...]
Older adults in the US are better off, on average, than those in other countries, according to a new index developed by researchers at Columbia University and the University of Southern California. However, while US seniors do relatively well by quality of life measures such as social connections at work and across generations, they fall in the middle of the [...]
For years, experts have been arguing over whether Americans are financially prepared for old age, especially after including the costs of health care and long-term care. But those debates often focus on averages (or medians), a perspective that misses a key point: While some seniors are sitting pretty, many others face a huge challenge. In other words, it isn’t just [...]
In his newly-unveiled 2017 budget, President Obama has proposed little or no increase in federal funding for key senior services programs, higher consumer out-of-pocket costs for brand-name drugs and home health services under Medicare, higher Medicare premiums for upper-income seniors, and reductions in federal subsidies to Medicare Advantage managed care plans. The budget also includes many other changes in the [...]
Older adults are getting too much medical treatment. No, I am not suggesting we ration treatment for seniors or empower the mythical death panels. Rather, the health system should replace aggressive but ultimately useless medical interventions with more care. This means rethinking the way we care for older adults with chronic disease. We should organize care around the goal of improving their quality of life rather than on [...]
The popular Meals on Wheels program has fallen victim to Congress’ clumsy across-the-board spending cuts called sequestration. As a result, local programs are reducing meals deliveries or putting homebound seniors on waiting lists. It is unfortunate that the program is getting cut, especially since its budget has been frozen throughout the Obama Administration. But these cuts may be an opportunity [...]