State faces looming crisis over aging population, says Berg
by Carol Harrison, 11/16/2005
Warning that the “sheer weight of the number of baby boomers will swamp our leaky financial boat,” Assemblywoman Patty Berg sounded a call for a master plan as the keynote speaker at the Area 1 Agency on Aging’s 25th annual meeting Tuesday at Baywood Golf and Country Club.
Berg (D-Eureka), who in 1980 was the agency’s founding executive director, received the President’s Award for her work on behalf of seniors. At the afternoon awards luncheon, she highlighted the stark numbers that face California.
“We have 3.2 million people who are age 65 and over, and in the next 15 years that number will double,” said the chair of the state assembly’s Committee on Aging and Long Term Care. “By 2050, it will triple to 11 million seniors. I don’t think anyone thinks we are ready. The truth is we are hardly meeting the needs of the 3.2 million.”
Berg called the current system a “scattershot” approach that is “confusing” and “wasteful.” She said the state’s existing plan for seniors consists of 38 programs offered through five different agencies, none of which is designed to refer clients to other places.
“If that makes sense to you, it shouldn’t,” she said. “You have to be an expert to navigate the maze of a system we have set up, and we don’t have a map.
“We have a crisis in the making. We all know California has paid a big price by failing to plan ahead. Think energy. Think budget. Think workers’ compensation. All of those boomers may lead to a burst of California’s pell-mell system.”
Saying the “strain could make the energy crisis look like the good old days,” Berg called on everyone present to embrace activism and be at the front lines of the budget table where decisions are made.
“We can build a road map and develop a plan,” she said, stressing that the map must include “every highway, boulevard, avenue and alley. It’s not just about health care and nursing homes and how to pay for them.”
She listed housing, transportation, employment, finances and care giving as part of the short list, saying the state cannot look at health care without looking at transportation.
“An interwoven tapestry of needs demands a unified approach,” she said minutes before receiving the last of the six awards presented on the afternoon. “We’ve spent 20 years trying to fix the system. The results are unsatisfactory. Older Californians deserve better.”
Berg acknowledged that paying for it is an open question and that the state cannot spend what it doesn’t have. While saying that it “is exceedingly difficult to make headway,” she cautioned against embracing the “on your own” mentality and challenged people to reject the ideas that seniors are a “drain on bank accounts” and “don’t matter.”
Her comments received a standing ovation from attendees who had honored three individuals and two service groups earlier in the afternoon.
Marilyn Cottrell received the Commitment to Senior Service Award for her 18 years of work with Adult Protective Services, a branch of the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services.
Tim Austin and Dave Pedrotti were tabbed for Senior Friend Awards for their numerous volunteer efforts. Austen moved to Southern Humboldt County after 40 years in the Bay Area. He has been active in the Meals on Wheels program and has served as a receptionist for the senior center.
Ferndale’s Pedrotti had a long list of volunteer efforts that included work with Meals on Wheels, St. Luke Manor, the blood bank and Redwood Memorial Hospital.
Soroptimist International of Humboldt Bay and Rotary Club of Eureka each received a Senior Friend Award for organizations. The local soroptimist club has been active with its Alzheimer’s Day Care program while Eureka Rotary made a concerted effort with the Area 1 Agency on Aging to improve fundraising and outreach for the Meals on Wheels program.
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