Baby Boomer Healthcare Booms

The babyboom generation, roughly 76 million people born between 1946 and 1964, has been reshaping American society for many decades. Boomers have altered economic patterns and institutions at each stage of their lives. Now that the leading edge of the generation has turned 50, the impending collision between the boomers and the nation’s retirement system is naturally catching the eye of policymakers and the boomers themselves.

●As members of the baby boom generation get older and reach retirement age, they present an increasing challenge and opportunity for health care system.

●The growth in the number of elderly patients from the boomer generation coupled with a loss of boomer-age providers will pressure an already-stressed health care system.

●Boomers' willingness to adopt what's new and better may speed progress in patient-managed technology, such as mobile health. Chronic care system reform also will be important in getting the baby boomers properly cared for as they get older.

●A big challenge is how well Medicare will digest the 75 million baby boomers amid the federal government's attempt to transform how care is provided and paid for in the program.

The me generation

Part of the challenge, of course, is that the post-war Boomer generation spends more on health care than their parents once did.They visit the doctor more often, they consume more services, and they aren’t afraid to use their $7 trillion in collective wealth to improve their quality of life.From physical therapy, to cosmetic surgery, to the latest in life-saving technology, Boomers just aren’t built to grow old gracefully.

Baby Boomer Challenges

The differing social and cultural values of the baby boom generation create challenges for health care that weren't present with previous generations. Hospital executives can address many of the challenges through strategies that increase patient engagement, but others will require additional effort.

Diversity

The boomer population is more ethnically and racially diverse — about 20 percent are in minority groups — requiring increased sensitivity to cultural differences and the effect those differences have on care.

Finances

Having lost a lot of their retirement savings during the Great Recession, boomers are likely to be judicious purchasers of care as they enter retirement age.

Lifestyle

Active boomers will want to keep their mobility in old age, will rely more on complementary medicine and will be more familiar and demanding of palliative care.

Can it be fixed?

The Government, of course, has made health care spending a matter of national priority, with an eye towards reigning in costs while providing coverage for all Americans.Though details of the health care reform bill are still being hammered out, the incentives most versions provide for keeping people healthy would go a long way towards cutting costs down to size.

Baby Boomers will soon discover how haphazard the U.S. health care system really is when they need it, from coordinating care, to seeing different specialists to obtaining drugs. They’re already finding that with their parents and they won’t put up with it for themselves. They have the money and the voice to effect change.