Nation's Sickest Seniors Reshape Health Care

About 15 percent account for half of Medicare spending

When Debby White was rushed to the hospital last fall with a rare type of blood cancer, what worried her wasn't her own medical problems: It was the health of her husband Jack.

Debby White retired early to take care of her husband 
Jack, who has Lewy body disease, one of several chronic 
conditions the family is juggling. 
(Photo: Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY)

Jack, 74, suffers Lewy body disease, with symptoms similar to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. He takes nine medications a day, and no one but Debby — who retired two years ago to care for him — knew how to dispense the doses properly.

So as Debby underwent chemotherapy, her sister brought all of Jack's medications. On her hospital bed, they meted out Jack's pills for the weeks ahead.

CLICK CHART to ENLARGE

The Whites' dilemma, of one sick person caring for an even sicker partner or family member, is becoming more and more common.

Two-thirds of traditional Medicare beneficiaries older than 65 have multiple chronic conditions, according to a USA TODAY analysis of county-level Medicare data. More than 4 million — about 15% — have at least six long-term ailments. Those sickest seniors account for more than 41% of the $324 billion spent on traditional Medicare.

CLICK CHART to ENLARGE

As Baby Boomers begin to move into the Medicare years, they are — by the measure of medical diagnoses — sicker than their predecessors, researchers say.

Yet they also are living longer, leaving them to grapple with diseases such as diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart failure, depression and even Alzheimer's for years — sometimes decades. The result: neither the medical system nor most seniors are prepared for the financial and emotional crisis ahead.

Read the rest of this USA Series on the Nation's Health Care HERE.

If you like what you see, please "Like" us on Facebook either here or here. Please follow us on Twitter here.