Fixing medicare with more direct-care, in-home elder care jobs

Happy birthday! I can't believe it's been 47 years. I've looked at the actuarial tables and you barely look a day over 40. Medicare can adapt to the nation's needs by

helping to cover in-home elder care workers. James Yang But flattery aside, we have to have a talk. Because right now, every eight seconds, another boomer turns 65. This year alone, more

than 3 million Americans will celebrate that birthday. And more older people means more work for you, Medicare. Are you up for it? I know you've had some work done recently. The

Affordable Care Act will reduce fees for prescription drugs, bring down the cost of private Medicare supplements and increase access to free preventive care. According to some reports,

Medicare enrollees with high prescription drug spending will save as much as $12,300 over the next 10 years thanks to that piece of reform alone. Maybe someone will use the savings to get

you a present. Plus, while economists are still debating whether your long-term fiscal health is in jeopardy, most agree the Affordable Care Act will ensure you are solvent longer. That law

cuts $700 billion in unnecessary Medicare spending over the next 10 years, reducing the rate at which payments to providers are growing. What politicians should be trying to do isn't

cut you or privatize you, Medicare, but rather make you and our whole elder care system even stronger, especially given the unprecedented rise in demand. What needs fixing most? Our system

for in-home elder care. Over 90 percent of Americans age 50-plus agree that people should have the freedom to grow old at home with dignity. But that means they need qualified care workers

by their side. To keep up with the aging population, we need to add at least 1.6 million new direct-care jobs by 2020. That's good news for jump-starting our economy. And since home

care is less expensive than hospitals or long-term care facilities, it saves you money, too. Yes, Medicare, we might have to raise your allowance. After all, if we value caring for older

people with dignity, we should treat their care workers with dignity, too. The average U.S. home care worker makes less than $10 per hour. And many home care workers are immigrant women of

color who, because they're not paid well enough and don't have sick days and access to immigration papers, can't in turn take care of their own families. As I'm sure you

remember, when the Senate passed the Medicare bill in 1965, President Lyndon Johnson said, "We have proved, once again, that the vitality of our democracy can shape the oldest of our

values to the needs and obligations of today." Now that you're 47, it's time we start thinking about the needs and obligations of a new day. When we think of the health care

system, we should be thinking about how to better care for everyone in it — including workers.