Does Obamacare Benefit Baby Boomers?

Baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, are changing the definition of what it means to grow old. Baby boomers don’t want aging services the same way their parents did, boomers don’t want senior centers and adult day care centers, they want wellness centers and spas. They don’t want to be isolated in nursing homes, they want to live in active communities. They don’t want to stay home and watch Gunsmoke reruns in their moo moo, they want to go out dancing in high heels wearing Gucci. Boomers are spearheading the movement to age in place and our health care policies are following.

The health home model of service delivery in section 2703 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is the most recent federal initiative promoting integrated health care and aging in place. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H. R. 3590) is a federal policy that signed into law by President Obama in 2010, also referred to as Obamacare.

Section 2703 of the Affordable Care Act authorized states to develop a system of coordinated care through a health home. The health home facilitates access and coordination of health services through home health care, including primary health care, behavioral health care, and community-based services for Medicaid recipients with a chronic condition.

Health homes are of particular importance to older adults since the passage of the Affordable Care Act means reducing health disparities for older adults. For example, the barriers that prevent screening and assessment, and treatment among all older adults have a larger greater impact on homebound older adults due to transportation issues, handicapped accessibility, and isolation. Homebound older adults have greater physical health issues, and therefore, seeking treatment for chronic health conditions presents a significant barrier.

The passage of the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, brought increasing recognition of the need to consider the totality of an individual’s health and health care. This means fostering overall health and wellness by promoting the integration of behavioral health (mental health and substance abuse) and primary health care to increase access to affordable and effective integrated health care, treatment, and recovery support services.  Within this context, now is a perfect opportunity to engage stakeholders and partners to embrace recovery and all of its dimensions.

However, as the baby boomers redefine what it means to be “elderly” or “senior”, what will this new healthcare system look like for older adults? The home health model is an idea that promotes aging in place. It hasn’t been researched fully to know the benefits of this system. More research needs to be done, but what do you think, is the home health model truly of benefit to older Americans?

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