OUR VIEW: Poorly prepared for senior care

As a part of our ongoing world of crises, nursing homes pop up frustratingly, depressingly and regularly.

Clearer recognition of mental concerns, particularly isolation, has moved to the fore, and complications and concerns in a post-COVID world (as well as the issues nursing homes had during COVID) will continue to vex the industry.

We are in the midst of another great reckoning of age groups on society. Baby boomers have dominated culture for decades, and now they've reached the age of retirement and/or facing the need for long-term care.

There's the cost, and there are the human numbers.

According to Genworth, a pioneering long-term care insurance group, the median cost of nursing home care is $7,756 per month for a semi-private room and $8,821 for a private room: $93,072 and $105,852 per year, respectively. According to seniorliving.org, Illinois averages are lower, $6,235 and $7,026 annually. Fourteen states go into five figures for annual semi-private care, and another half-dozen states get to five figures for a private room.

Medicaid will typically pay for care if the patient meets the low income and asset requirements, but they will need to spend down assets to meet those qualifications. Most nursing homes accept Medicaid, but not all of them do.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimate 14 million people are presently receiving some form of long-term care. That number, the agency says, will double by 2050. About 70% of people over age 65 will need some form of long-term care before they die, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute.

The year 2030 will mark a significant sociology shift. That's the year every boomer will be older than 65. By 2060, nearly one in four Americans will be 65 years and older. In 2010, there were seven potential caregivers for every person in the high-risk 80-plus years. By 2050, there will be only three potential caregivers for every senior in need of care.

Research by the Insured Retirement Institute found that 45% of boomers have no retirement savings and more than a quarter of those who do have less than $100,000.

That's a horrific picture to paint. Now add in a home's nurses, nursing aides, housekeepers, food prep staff and administrators. Those jobs are not on the lists of high pay or high work satisfaction.

This isn't a problem that can be solved overnight by one person. The issue needs grassroots work. If you were looking down the barrel at the numbers above, you owe it to yourself to increase your knowledge about the industry. Attend open houses. Look around to see how you feel as a neutral observer. Talk to the staff and residents. You don't have to be aggressive. Simply ask about their work feelings and experiences, like you would anyone else.

If the facilities need some kind of volunteer work, find something that catches your fancy. The best thing about that kind of work is the delighted residents.

Boomers have often pushed the needle enough to make life passage a little easier for those younger. This might be the point even that populace isn't large enough.

We need solutions. The monolith that is senior care right now is a drain on life savings and can quickly turn into worse health news even in the best of circumstances.