America’s aging population faces a growing shortage of geriatric care
https://www.businessinsider.com/geriatric-care-aging-population-boomers-healthcare-nursing-homes-doctor-shortage-2025-2?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insider-futurology-sub-post
15 Comments
**TLDR:**
* **There’s a growing problem for older Americans: doctors who specialize in geriatric care are dwindling. The supply of doctors trained specifically to treat older adults nowhere near keeping pace with a quickly aging US population.**
* **The problem is visible in the numbers. More than 80 million Americans are expected to be older than 65 by 2050, according to the US Census Bureau.**
* **There’s no clear path to addressing the shortage. Medical professionals told BI the influx of older patients could lead to a quality-of-care crisis.**
Turns out when you screw over your kids for short term gain it makes them less likely to want to take care of you long term. Who’da thunk it
Nursing assistants where I work can make about $30/hr, which is good for a job that only requires a semester of training.
But it’s a hellscape work environment. That’s why they can’t keep any staff. Who wants to deal with poop and pee all day? Who wants half their job to be taking people to the bathroom and emptying bedpans? You deal with lots of complaints and whining. Family members treat you like crap. Both your peers and your superiors treat you like crap. There’s lots of gossip and spreading rumors. It’s not a job where you simply clock in, work and clock out.
The basic fundamentals of elderly care are back-breaking and tedious.
And they aren’t going to get more because they voted for people who cut Medicare. The primary funding source for doctor residency programs and fellowships (training required to be a geriatrics doctor).
1. An entire generation is saddled with crippling education debt.
2. The next generation looks at that and goes “man, it takes a lot of schooling to be a doctor”
3. The medical field faces increasing danger for providing care, has to deal with insurance getting in the way and nickel and dime-ing their customers, has to deal with internships and workplace drama. It was already known to be a stressful job. That’s not going to improve soon.
3. You get less doctors. At the same time, people are aging out; they’re retiring, meaning the pool of medical professionals is shrinking at both ends.
4. Unless the sources of these problems are resolved, any reform will merely re-express old issues. In a decade, maybe two, things start getting dire.
Hmm, people losing jobs because of AI meets an industry that needs jobs on a similar trajectory 🤔
I’m afraid there’s only one solution. MAiD (looking at you Canada). Medical Assistance in Dying. When it gets bad enough that’s the deal.
Private equity is deeply investing in elderly care right now. Boomers ain’t leaving their wealth for their families. It will be siphoned into assisted living, skilled nursing facilities, dialysis clinics, and funeral homes.
Part of my portfolio is investing in these industries because you can’t stop time or demographics. I want my slice of what boomers won’t leave for the rest of us.
Wait until Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid take a haircut.
I work in not-for-profits, and I doubt people understand how much of the economy is propped up by those resources. Ripple effect will take many people out of the workforce to care for family members.
I see this with the paucity of services for the Medicaid system – you can get a budget to spend on services, but there are none to buy. It’s a dry allocation. There’s always a family member, normally mom, who has to work part time or not at all to care for the affected family member. You are taking a taxpayer out of the system.
Long term care operators better plan for this change. My mom lives in an assisted living facility. Her Social Security only covers half of it. Her pension (thank God she has one) covers the remainder. This is a good one, not the best, but also the most reasonably priced one in our area (about $5k a month).
So, even if you can afford to stay in one of these places, they may shut down due to a significant portion not being able to swing it anymore. If the person has family, they can move in with them (leading to the problem noted with knocking out a working family member in the process).
I read this the other day. If he’s right, this could be like end of days shit. [https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5173332-social-security-cuts-risk-collapse/amp/](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5173332-social-security-cuts-risk-collapse/amp/)
Oh no, whatever shall they do? Quick! Tqx the rich to provide Healthcare and social services so that Americans aren’t too terrified for their own survival so that they can have and raise children!
I’ll wait here.
At this point, your best bet after retirement is maxing out all your credit cards and living well beyond your means. Once you’re finally arrested for not paying all your creditors, enjoy the free health care you get in prison.
The following submission statement was provided by /u/thisisinsider:
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**TLDR:**
* **There’s a growing problem for older Americans: doctors who specialize in geriatric care are dwindling. The supply of doctors trained specifically to treat older adults nowhere near keeping pace with a quickly aging US population.**
* **The problem is visible in the numbers. More than 80 million Americans are expected to be older than 65 by 2050, according to the US Census Bureau.**
* **There’s no clear path to addressing the shortage. Medical professionals told BI the influx of older patients could lead to a quality-of-care crisis.**
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Please reply to OP’s comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1j89lj5/americas_aging_population_faces_a_growing/mh3bbgw/
I will show them the care and attention they have given to us. None.
I will show them the care and attention they have given to us. None.
Hmm maybe since the old people fucked the economy and made it too pricy to have kids we should just euthanize them when they can’t take care of themselves, problem solved! If they want to live they should boot strap their way forward.