May is Older Americans Month



May 6, 2005 -- May is older Americans Month, an annual celebration that honors the contributions of our nation's seniors. But, as many seniors are quick to tell you, honoring them with proclamations and community events is nice but not necessary. These older American say that they would rather be honored by having their elected officials recognize their needs and do something about them.

For them, and for their peers, this year's celebration should have special meaning. As the posters and banners are being put up in senior centers throughout the country, the staff members at Medicare, Social Security and in scores of other government agencies are hard at work delivering what seniors have long said that they truly need - coverage for prescription drugs.

The theme for this year's Older Americans Month program is "Celebrate Long Term Living." Long term living is a concept that would be hard to even imagine without the Medicare program. Since 1965, Medicare has given the nation's elderly and disabled access to the quality health care that has made long term living not only possible but actually worthy of celebration. Since Medicare's enactment, life expectancy has increased more than seven years and older Americans have become one of the most rapidly growing demographic segments of the population. In fact, it might be said that the meaning of the phrase long term living has been forever changed; it has gone from being a hope to becoming an expectation.

While Medicare has played a critical role in this achievement, it has become increasingly clear in recent years that the program is not doing all it potentially can to keep seniors healthy. Although new health care innovations and services have become available in the marketplace, Medicare has lagged behind in making them available to its beneficiaries. Certainly the most important of these "deficits" was prescription drug coverage, but also significant was the need for adding a greater range of preventive care services to Medicare.

By this time next year, that will have changed. Medicare will have completed its transition to the 21st century with full implementation of the provisions of the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003. When Older Americans Month is celebrated next May, more than 43 million Medicare beneficiaries will have already had the opportunity to enroll in a new Medicare prescription drug coverage program. Most important is the fact that nearly nine million of these beneficiaries are seniors and disabled persons who have been without prescription coverage of any kind. For the first time in history they will have been offered a program to help meet their needs. Additionally, Medicare has already begun to offer new preventive care services including cardiovascular disease and diabetes screening and will be providing "Welcome to Medicare" physicals to those who enroll in 2005 and thereafter.

As we prepare to celebrate older Americans and their importance to our society, we should take note that this historic expansion of the Medicare program (from which we will all benefit sooner or later) is a direct result of the demand by seniors that they have the same protections and services offered to younger health care consumers. Though it was a long time coming, it is finally here, and that, more than any proclamation or luncheon or awards program may well be the best commemoration of the lives of older Americans.

The Kidney Cancer Association serves 64-thousand constituents in the United States and more than 100 other countries from offices in suburban Chicago.




May is Older Americans Month



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