Many baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) face especially challenging circumstances as they move to retirement age. In many cases, they are paying college costs for their children while also looking after increasingly fragile and needy parents, in-laws and sometimes grand-parents. Currently, they are paying taxes to support their parents who are already receiving Social Security and Medicare; many express the belief that Social Security will not be available to them or will be severely reduced benefits when they retire.

Will new government programs be able to care for the baby boomers in their old age? Let’s look at history. When public schools did not have a sufficient number of classrooms for these generations, trailers and portable units were set up on the grounds of schools. There were 45 boys and girls per classroom. Today, Medicaid, which is the government program that pays almost 49% of nursing home costs for low-income elders, is being cut once again. There are already facilities that refuse to take persons on Medicaid because the reimbursement levels do not cover the current cost of providing care. Furthermore, we are told that there are not sufficient numbers of trained workers to provide home health care for today’s needs, much less those of the baby boomer generations. This year the first group of boomers becomes age sixty; there are 75 million persons born between 1946 and 1964. As demand grows, costs will accelerate.

The demand for long term care is projected to grow significantly over the next several decades, especially after 2030 when the baby boomer generation begins to reach age 85.  By 2040, growth in the average 85 population, which is the group most likely to need long term care services, is projected to more than triple from about 4 million to 14 million persons.  As demand grows, costs will accelerate.

Most persons probably want to remain in their homes to receive care, but home health care costs money and it is not covered by Medicare, Medicare supplements or private health insurance. They might wish to move to an assisted living facility, but those programs can be very expensive and the costs are not covered by private health insurance or by any federal program.

By failing to plan for long term care needs, one gives up the choice of having home health care as long as possible because arranging for home services is complicated. It is easier, and often less expensive, to simply assign the person in need of care to a bed in a nursing home than try to arrange for the many and ever changing services to be delivered to the home.

Today, 80 percent of all long-term care is given in the home by family members. Who, in your family, is prepared to assume that responsibility? Can you afford qualified home health care at today’s average rate of $18 per hour to provide additional help or give respite to the primary care-giver? What are you doing to prepare for this high risk situation that many families will face? These are questions that boomers should be asking about their parents and themselves.