By AGIS

Doctor Marion, AGIS geriatric expert and eldercare advocate, has been hitting the campaign trail to speak directly with top presidential candidates and bring the issues of the impending geriatric tsunami that’s going to hit America. With at least 1/3 of the population over 55 in this next decade, Americans will soon be faced with an extensive population that will be in need of some form of elder-care.

“I feel I’ve come to Iowa to shake the candidates in America by the shoulders and just tell them that this is not going to go away,” Doctor Marion said.

Getting up close and personal with each of the candidates, Doctor Marion’s trip raises a lot of questions on whether politicians really grasp the crucial importance of developing a solid plan now for elder care.

“We just have to do a plan that takes care of Medicare, does long term care insurance, you know, we just got to get on it - otherwise it’s going to hit us in the face,” Hillary Clinton told Doctor Marion.

Clinton’s $5 billion per year long-term care agenda, the most comprehensive offered by a candidate, would provide a $3,000 tax credit to caregivers and double the funding of current caregiver support programs.

Mitt Romney acknowledged the current state of affairs, and explained that he feels that “there’s no reason that we should have a setting where people should not have confidence that healthcare and Social Security will be there.” Romney also commented on his work as a governor that he developed Senior Options, “I fought for the provision, which provides that seniors that are qualified to go to a nursing home, that have the conditions that would allow them to go to a nursing home, and can if they would they would prefer, remain at home. We called it Senior Options, and that means that seniors who want to stay at home can receive home care.”

Presidential candidate Fred Thompson explained his thoughts on issues with social security, “we’re living longer, we’re living healthier lives, but we’ve got to make sure that that blessing doesn’t turn into a curse for our kids and for our grandkids, and we have a smaller and smaller workforce paying in, paying taxes, that’s the basis of a lot of these programs, because of the proportion between the retirees and the workforce.” Thompson has outlined a plan to let workers contribute 2% of their wages into private investment accounts and receive a 2.5% employer match.

Edwards’ 11-point Declaration of Independence for Older Americans plan includes proposals to address elder abuse and promote creation of “livable communities” for retirees. Obama’s Helping America’s Seniors plan includes proposals to encourage retirees to volunteer and protects seniors against financial fraud. “The response from the candidates was encouraging,” Doctor Marion said, but there is so much more that needs to be done beyond Social Security and Medicare reforms. We need to be thinking not only of our seniors, but of the 80 million baby boomers who are currently ill-prepared to care for them.”

Doctor Marion will continue her work to bring this issue to the forefront during this election season, and we at AGIS will bring you the latest from her campaign trail!

Filed under: AGIS, Baby Boomers, Caregiving, Doctor Marion, Elder Issues, Eldercare, Expert, Medicare & Medicaid, Politics, Social Security, Working Caregivers