The first members of the huge baby-boom generation in the U.S. have reached retirement age in recent years, and these older boomers are retiring in large numbers, just as Americans in their mid- to late 60s did a few years earlier. While about eight in 10 boomers in their early […] Read more »
Changing Coalitions: Will GOP Have to Toss Its Medicare Plan?
More gray. Less green. Continuing the reversal of historic political alignments, House Republicans in the new Congress represent most districts with the highest share of seniors–as well as a narrow majority of seats where the median income lags below the national average, a Next America analysis has found. This counterintuitive […] Read more »
International Survey of Older Adults Finds Shortcomings in Access, Coordination, and Patient-Centered Care
A survey of older people in 11 countries finds that U.S. adults are sicker than their counterparts abroad, as well as the most likely to have problems paying their medical bills and getting needed healthcare. U.S. adults also reported difficulty getting care in a timely fashion and using emergency departments […] Read more »
When Campaigns Poison Compromise
There’s a reason why the people who run campaigns are rarely the people responsible for implementing policy. The job of a campaign operative is to work in absolutes – you win or you lose, there’s no gray area. The job of a policy operative, of course, is to look for […] Read more »
Can We Have a Fact-Based Conversation About End-of-Life Planning?
… The debate over end-of-life planning has largely been dormant since 2009, when the former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s false claim that President Obama’s health care plan included a “death panel” spelled the end of a proposal for Medicare to reimburse doctors for voluntary end-of-life consultations with patients. … Unfortunately, […] Read more »
Most Americans struggle to save for retirement
… Seven of 10 Americans who haven’t retired yet find it hard to save for retirement while also paying the bills and meeting their basic living expenses, a new CBS News poll shows. Not surprisingly, those earning less are having more difficulty setting money aside. More than 80 percent of […] Read more »