Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Aging News: A Plan When You Don't Have Kids; Health Costs Rising; The Need To Keep Moving
The Washington Post: Aging Solo: Okay, I Don’t Have A Child To Help Me, But I Do Have A Plan
“The trouble is: You think you have time.” That Buddhist-sounding quote from a fortune cookie rattled around the back of my head for decades, seemingly for no reason. Now that I find myself living with my 94-year-old mother in a Florida city where preacher Billy Graham got his start and being a never-wed 60-something has made me a tourist attraction of sorts, I finally understand why I thought the repercussions of growing old without a child or two would not apply to me: I was just plain delusional. (Zubrod, 8/15)
Bloomberg: Retirees Need $130,000 Just To Cover Health Care, Study Finds
Today's 65-year-olds can expect to spend an average of $130,000 on health care during their retirement, from premiums to co-payments to eyeglasses, according to new estimates. The average single 65-year-old woman can expect to need $135,000 to spend on health care in retirement, while a man will spend $125,000, according to estimates from Fidelity Investments. (Steverman, 8/16)
Kaiser Health News: Elderly Patients In The Hospital Need To Keep Moving
Despite a growing body of research that shows staying in bed can be harmful to seniors, many hospitals still don’t put a high priority on making them walk. At [the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital-Highlands] 26-bed geriatric unit, known as the Acute Care for Elders unit, or ACE, patients are encouraged to start moving as soon as they arrive. The unit is one of a few hundred around the U.S. that is attempting to provide better and more tailored care to geriatric patients. The hospital opened the unit in 2008 with the recognition that the elderly population was growing and that many older patients didn’t fare well in the hospital. (Gorman, 8/16)
