The Aging Tidal Wave

ABOUT THIS BOOK The Baby Boom Generation looms over the long-term care industry like a tidal wave. Every year, for the next twenty years,3 million of the 75 million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 will hit retirement age (Barr, 2014). By 2029, when the last roundof "boomers" retires, the number of Americans 65 or older will climb to more than 71 million (Colby & Ortman, 2014). In other words, we are looking at a tidal wave of more than 30 million additional retirees in the next fifteen years. Currently, long-termcare service providers serve approximately 8 million people (Harris-Kojetin, Sengupta, Park-Lee, &Valverde, 2013). However, by 2050, the number of people using nursing facilities, alternative residential care places, or home care services, however, is projected to exceed 27 million (Evashwick, Frates & Fahey, 2008). The long-term care industry is simply not preparing to serve this sudden spike in the elderly population. So far, the growth in the number of senior citizen boomers has been incremental, and its impact on health care has been overshadow ed by federal reform and budget battles. "This is the most powerful force operating in our health system right now, this generational change, "says Jeff Goldsmith, president of Health Futures Inc., Charlottesville, Va. "But, people aren't paying much attention" (Barr, 2014). The purpose of this book is to alert the long-term care industry to the baby boom title wave cresting on our shores.