Posted on: Sunday, February 16, 2003

EDITORIAL
We must prepare for the gray revolution

Attention, U.S. baby boomers. We're a time bomb, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The number of American senior citizens is expected to double by 2030 to 71 million.

Not only will there be a lot of us, but we'll take up the lion's share of medical care. Meanwhile, technology will keep most of us living longer.

In Hawai'i by 2020, one in four Islanders will be at least 60 years old, and nursing home costs will have increased to at least $200,000 a person, according to the state Executive Office on Aging.

All this suggests that the medical profession and the government need to prepare for the needs of an aging population. We need to improve preventive care so the healthcare system doesn't collapse under the weight of the disabled.

And we must confront the long-term-care crunch. Hawai'i needs a system that provides a safety net not just for those who can afford it, but for everyone.

One of the more sensible ideas floating out there is former First Lady Vicky Cayetano's CarePlus program, which would place a mandatory $10-a-month payroll tax into a fund that would provide cash care payments to qualified recipients.

Gov. Linda Lingle has also proposed tax credits as an incentive to get people to purchase private long-term-care insurance. But many pensioners can't afford private insurance.

Long-term care is just one piece of a giant puzzle that we'll need to assemble to meet the demands of the gray revolution. Let's get rolling before the bomb explodes.