Among the senior population, it is an unfortunate reality that 10 percent are heavy drinkers or even alcoholics. For many alcoholics, their disease begins in their 20s, and by the time they reach their 60s, alcohol has ravaged their physical and mental health.
This fact will undoubtedly have an impact Medicare as millions of baby boomers enter the system. The story of one such alcoholic, Pete, who did not give his last name, was reported on KPBS, public radio for San Diego, Calif.
Pete, who is living in a residential recovery program in Escondido, which employs counseling and 12-step meetings, is trying to beat his addiction to alcohol. He's 64 and has been drinking intermittently for the last 45 years.
"In my 20s and 30s and even my 40s, I thought I was indestructible," said Pete. "I thought I could drink and I thought I could work. And the years took its toll and the alcohol took its toll."
Pete lost his job and his wife, and physically, he suffers from a variety of conditions, such as arthritis, high cholesterol and hypertension. Recently, he underwent quadruple bypass heart surgery.This year, Pete enters the Medicare system, one of three and a half million other baby boomers who become eligible for the program in 2011. Some 350,000 are addicted to alcohol and other drugs. What approach will Medicare take with such patients?
Currently, Medicare pays for some substance abuse services, such as in-patient treatment and clinic care. Studies show that approximately one percent of Medicare hospitalizations are for alcohol-related illnesses. For 2008, for example, that's $1 billion spent on treatment related to alcoholism.
"With older people," explained Dr. Michael Plopper, who oversees substance abuse treatment at three San Diego-area hospitals, "it's become much more common in the last 10 to 15 years for people to become habituated to opiates, particularly OxyContin. So we see complex addictions of alcohol plus opiates, of other drugs. Cocaine use is increasing among the boomers and early seniors."
Government research indicates that by 2020, nearly four and a half million senior substance abusers will enter the Medicare system, yet another strain on an already strained program.
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