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Planning for a Healthy Retirement |
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Thursday, 27 March 2008 |
For many baby boomers it seems like just yesterday they were grooving to the new sound of the Beatles, but this year the first wave of boomers turns 62 - making retirement just around the corner. Retirement can mean more time to spend with family and pursue a favorite hobby, but it also means an increased focus on health care needs. Advance planning can help baby boomers ensure that they can focus on enjoying retirement instead of worrying about their health care.
A focus on early prevention, including annual tests for certain cancers and heart disease, a healthy diet and exercise are an important start to staying healthy well into the golden years. Ensuring that physicians can continue to care for senior patients under Medicare is also a critical action for aging boomers, as the government health insurance program for Americans 65 and over has long been a source of comfort for seniors who otherwise wouldn't have health coverage. Planned payment cuts to physicians may make it harder for new Medicare patients to get physician care in the coming years.
Baby boomers nearing retirement age should consider steps to take now to help ensure a healthy, happy retirement.
Prevention
"As the boomers age, they have an increasing role to play in their health care," says Dr. Edward Langston, Board Chair of the American Medical Association. "One rule of thumb is to have regular discussions with your physician to ensure that you understand and agree with your health care goals."
At age 50 it's important to start annual exams for colorectal cancer, and men should have a prostate exam. For those boomers who weigh less than 154 pounds, screenings for osteoporosis should start at age 60. It's also important to start annual exams with a physician before you reach Medicare age to:
* Monitor and discuss blood pressure, cholesterol, needed vaccines and tests to monitor or prevent disease.
* Identify activities and goals to address healthy eating, physical activity, tobacco use cessation, moderating alcohol use and attention to stress and mood.
* Discuss screenings needed to prevent and/or monitor degenerative or chronic disorders in vision, hearing, bone density, cancer and obesity.
Access to Health Care
Already, about 30 percent of current Medicare patients have trouble finding a new primary care physician, and the government predicts a shortage of 85,000 physicians by 2020. The huge influx of baby boomers into Medicare begins in three years, while the government plans nine years of steep Medicare physician payments cuts that begin this July.
"A full sixty percent of physicians say this year's Medicare cut will force them to limit the number of new Medicare patients they can treat," says Dr. Langston. "We're very worried about what this cut will do to seniors' access to care now and to the huge influx of baby boomers who will soon begin relying on Medicare."
Congress has the power to replace the cuts with payment updates that reflect medical practice costs - allowing physicians to continue to care for current and future Medicare patients. A bill that would address this problem was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate, and the American Medical Association is urging Congress to act on the Save Medicare Act of 2008 (S. 2785). More information is available at www.patientsactionnetwork.org.
"Planning for a healthy retirement is the best way to make it a reality," says Dr. Langston. "I encourage baby boomers nearing retirement age to take preventive action now to prepare for a long, healthy life and to ensure that their physician will still be there for them when they begin relying on Medicare."
Courtesy of ARAcontent
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