May is Older Americans Month
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.
EVANSTON, IL (PRWEB) 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.
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/5/prweb236624.htm