Technically, the year 2010 belongs to the first decade of the 21st century, but we rarely talk about it that way. You remember all the Y2K hoopla we went through when, technically, the new century wouldn’t officially have begun until we FINISHED the 20th century (1901 -2000). Oh well, so much for technicalities.
So, giving in to popular convention, we sit at the dawn of our second decade of the 21st century and what do we know that we didn’t know ten years ago?
That a “failure of imagination” can kill you. That’s what the 9/11 Commission called our failure to foresee and prevent the attacks of September 11, 2001. While we acknowledge that hindsight is 20:20 and that most of us “Monday morning quarterbacks” think we know so much more than those in charge, it is hard to accept that we ought to be learning our next moves on the international chess board from the writers of science fiction and mystery. What is our next failure of imagination – only a look back at what we now call the future will tell.
That healthcare is a right, not merely a privilege. At least that’s what Bernie Sanders, Independent U.S. Senator from Vermont declared earlier this year.1 He goes on to remind us that “At the individual level, the average American spends about $7,900 per year on health care. Despite that huge outlay, a recent study found that medical problems contributed to 62 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007.” So, at the 11th hour, the American congressional leaders gave us a healthcare bill. Now we’ll see how long it takes for ordinary citizens to begin to feel the effects of such righteous medicine.
That we’re all getting older. No big secret here, but what I mean is we’ll all be paying the price for the birth of the Baby Boomers some 60+ years ago. We boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. Based on a July 2008 estimate there are 303,824,640 U.S. citizens and roughly 12.7% of us are 65 and over. The real sad truth is that most Americans live to be at least 75 years of age and some of us (at increasing rates) will become centanarians – about 214,000 by 2010 according to census bureau estimates.2 The trouble is not that we enjoy longevity, it is that the rest of the country will end up footing the bill for our long-term healthcare needs – a very costly enterprise.
Industry experts suggest that “By 2030 those needing LTC will skyrocket to 23+ million Americans, with projected, individual long term care costs reaching $300,000 annually per individual!”3 And we think health care is expensive now! When you consider who is and will be paying for Medicare and Social Security political pundits have warned, “Starting in 2008, 70 million baby boomers will begin retiring, and they will live longer than their parents did. That means that the number of workers paying for each beneficiary will drop to just over two by mid-century.”4 Two-to-one; dreadful odds, especially if you’re under 30.
For myself, I also know that:
- Being called grandmother trumps all the other titles I’ve had.
- I can live comfortably on less than I make.
- I don’t need any more jewelry.
- Life is a mystery – enjoy the ride!
1. Sanders, B. (2009). Health care is a right, not a privilege. The Huffington Post (December 28, 2009) accessed from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-bernie-sanders/health-care-is-a-right-no_b_212770.html
2. Projected Number of Centenarians in the United States bySex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 2000 to 2050. Current Population Reports, P25-1130, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC. Accessed from http://askville.amazon.com/centenarians-United-States-men-women/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=5959708
3. Long Term Care Insurance (2008). Long term Care Insurance National Advisory Center accessed from http://www.longtermcareinsurance.org/
4. Cannon, M.F., (2005). Medicare vs. social security: who’s on first? Nationalreview.com (April 14. 2005) accessed from http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5357
